The Mage Master: The Merciless Mage Championships
by Noir Chandler
Summary: Amu Hinamori is a young girl who dreams of being a Mage: the world's most powerful humans. She and her Warrior partner have been training their whole lives to get into a Mage school. They manage to get a scholarship to one of the greatest Mage School there is and that is Holy Seiyo Academy, but Amu finds out that becoming a Mage is a lot harder than she expected, a lot harder.
1. Prologue

I know I should be updating my ongoing fan fiction right now, but this story plot just popped into my head and I just couldn't not write it down. This is a revised version of my deleted, older story "The Monster Master". I didn't like how this story's predecessor was, so I took it off the web. The story itself, however, didn't die. After much deliberation and special thanks to a cool dream I had, I decided to make a better version of my old story. I hope you like it. It's just the prologue for now, but the first chapter will be up within a week. (My exams leave me NO time for internet and computer. I update with pen and paper. Haha...)

Anyway do enjoy and remember:

"All canon characters of Shugo Chara! are NOT mine"

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**The Mage Master(Book 1: The Merciless Mage Championships)**

**Prologue**

Never had the quiet town of Heion ever experience such a strong storm. It had blown into view late into the afternoon, and stayed there even as night settled on the town. People were all snuggled up in the cozy little homes, eating a nice meal by a warm fire. The animents in the town's forest weathered the storm in their dens. Some were sleeping, others were waiting for the torrent of rain to cease. Then a loud array of barking filled the forest. A small figure burst through some bushes and pelted through the forest foliage.

The creature was panting heavily as he swerved through stumps and leaped over roots. Behind him was a pack of Forest Wolves. They were set on eating the little thing, raw hunger driving their ferocious attack. One wolf shot out a ball of energy at the little creature. He dodged it. He let out a terrified mew all the while he ran. He was getting tired very fast, he had to find a place to hide. Then there he saw it, a tiny little crack in the ground just big enough for him to squeeze in. Bunching up all the strength he had left, the little creature made a mad run for the crack; his breath was getting more ragged with every step.

One Forest wolf leaped at him and bit hard. The sound of teeth snapping was drowned out by the rain, the wolf had caught air. The creature had made it. The pack circled the crack and dug furiously at it with their claws. They let out frustrated yips and growls. All the while, the little creature was safe underground. He curled up into a little ball and waited, listening to the ever growing frustration of the wolves as they vainly tried to dig him out.

"Oi, what're you filthy lot doing near town?"

The little creature perked his ears up. There was another creature there! He heard the baying of some hounds and the scared yips of the Forest wolves. He felt the ground rumble. The wolves were running away. He strained to pick up more sound. "Nate, have you found her yet?" one voice said. The little creature noted the worry in the voice. He dared to poke a bit of his head out and saw a few tall figures. Humans! The creature shot back into the ground and waited for them to leave. He didn't have to wait long though. The humans left as quickly as they came and apparently, the rain ended not long after. The little creature waited a wee bit longer before he poked his head out of the crack again.

He wouldn't take any chances. When he popped out from hiding, he looked around here and there. No danger. The little creature shook off drops of rain from his furry black pelt. "_Cold_," he muttered. He suddenly froze. Something was crying. He was curious as to who the voice belonged to, so he followed the sound to a nearby log. There was a small child by the fallen tree. She was sniffling and wiping back a few tears. Suspicion left the little creature in an instant. He let out a little mew and revealed himself to her. She seemed like she needed company, he also wanted company.

"W-who's there?" said the little girl. She locked her honey-gold gaze with his purple one. "Hey there, little guy.." she said after what seemed like hours. She pushed away a few of her pink locks and smiled at the little creature. "Are you all alone, too?" The little creature nodded and padded up to the pinkette, plopping himself in front of her. She reached out to stroke him, he bent closer and purred as he felt her soft fingers glide through his fur. He climbed up into her lap and snuggled against her drenched shirt. He liked this human.

"I'm Amu. You got a name?" she asked as she continued patting him. The little creature shook his head. He never thought of giving himself a name before. The pinkette let out a "hmm" and sat there quietly before she suggested, "Can I call you Alex?" The little creature liked how the name rung in his head. He turned to face the girl and nodded his happy approval. The pinkette giggled and grinned at him. He felt his heart melt at the sight of such a beautiful smile.

He spent the next hour listening to the girl talk about humans who were called Mages. He listened to all the exciting tales of these powerful humans and their faithful warriors accomplish great feats. He learned that she wanted to be a Mage, how she was looking for her own warrior. He also found out that she had run away from home. He looked at her questioningly, as if to say "Why?" The girl let out a sigh and looked up at the cloudy skies. She seemed pained. He didn't know why, but Alex felt his own chest tighten as he waited for her reply. He felt sad, too.

"I fought with my uncle." Came her soft reply. "I didn't want to speak to him anymore, so I ran and ran until I ended up here.." Amu wiped away a few tears and inhaled, her shallow breathing caught by Alex's sensitive ears. The furry creature pressed himself against the pinkette and let out a rumbling purr. "_Don't cry…_" he mewed. The pinkette hugged the little creature and buried her face in his shoulder. They stayed that way for about an hour and Alex never stopped purring all the while. When Amu finally pulled away Alex felt calmer and lighter. There were no more tears in her eyes.

"Thanks. Actually, I kind of miss my uncle now," she said.

He meowed a welcome.

Alex grinned at her and let out another purr. Amu grinned back and laughed with him. All the tired Alex gained from running away from those Forest Wolves seemed vanished as he laughed with the pinkette. This girl was special. He didn't really think much of humans, he didn't really like them. Amu, however, was an exception. While they were laughing about, both of them failed to notice the sound of nearing footsteps. The humans Alex saw earlier let out relieved sighs. One of them turned and called for the others before he went up to the pinkette.

"Amu," he shouted.

Alex turned with the pinkette to meet the approaching human. The little creature dove back into Amu's lap and curled up into a ball. "Amu, there you are!" the man sighed. "We've been looking for you everywhere! Do you know how dangerous the forest is? You should know better than to run off, young lady!" Alex felt Amu's arms wrap around his body when she stood up. "I'm sorry, Nate.." she said. The man let out another sigh and pulled Amu towards him. "Come on. Let's get you home." He said. Just then, Nate and Alex made eye contact. The man scratched his brown locks and looked at him curiously. "And when were you going to tell me who this is?" he demanded.

"He's Alex. He kept me company during the storm," she replied with a slight hint of happiness.

"Well the storm's over. Time to let him go," he said and motioned to take Alex away.

Amu pulled back and hid Alex away from the man, a defiant look on her fair young face. "But Nate.." she protested.

" No butts. Put him down. You know you can't bring wild animents to town."

"He's not wild, he's tame and he's friendly!"

Alex let out a mew of protest as he felt rough hands rip him from the pinkette's arms. He squirmed around and swiped about, vainly trying to free himself. He looked at the Amu and reached for her with his little paws. "Easy there, boy. Here." He heard Nate say. Alex felt Earth under his feet. He looked up and saw Nate walk away with Amu in hand. The pinkette let out more protests as she walked away and turned to give Alex one, long, sad glance before she and Nate disappeared into the cluster of trees and bushes.

The little creature didn't waste a second. He pelted right after them. It became harder for him to follow, the foliage was getting denser and it was hard to wriggle through them. He didn't give up, however. He lifted his little snout and sniffed the air. Amu's scent was still strong. He struggled to free himself when a vine tangled his little horns. He pulled, he tugged, and he shook until the vines snapped. "_Amu!_" he mewed. He didn't know why he was following pinkette. He had just met the girl and he knew how dangerous humans could be, but the moment he laid eyes on her something just clicked.

He felt drawn to her. Alex pushed on and ran past trees and stumps. Because of the vines Alex had lost Amu's scent. He tasted the air, he was desperate to regain the girl's strawberry scent. He blindly made his way to edge of the forest and then halted. Alex gulped. He had never set a paw out of the forest, not since he was born. The sounds and scents of people filled his nostrils. Before him was the town of Heion. He knew that somewhere in that cluster of buildings was Amu. He took in a big gulp of air and ventured into human territory.

Alex was careful to avoid any humans. He sneaked through alleyways and hid behind dumpsters. It was especially hard to hide with bloodhounds and their mages passing by every now and then. The town had good security, he had to admit. He walked for about ten blocks before he finally picked it up. Strawberry dominated over the scents. He turned his head to a narrow path at the edge of the town. Down the path, he could see a farm with a house right smack on a tiny hill.

"_Amu,_"

Alex could hardly bottle up his excitement. The little creature poked his head from behind the dumpster he was hiding in. Left, right. Good, there were no humans or hounds. He made a run for it, kicking up a cloud of dust as he sped through the narrow dirt path. Every step brought him closer to the house and every step made the scent of strawberries grow stronger and stronger. When he was just meters away from the door, he felt a huge shadow come upon him.

Alex let out a terrified mew when huge paws crushed him to the ground. Looking up, he found that his attacker was a terrifyingly huge Black Bear. Its beady eyes were narrowed in on the little creature's trembling body. Alex cringed at the sight of the bear's grizzly fangs and how they glinted dangerously under the waning moon. Just then the door slammed open and the scent of strawberries washed over Alex.

Standing in her night gown, Amu let out a gasp when she saw Alex. She had heard her uncle's bear make some noise and had went to investigate. "Brutus, off!" she said. The bear obeyed and released its grip on the trembling little creature. The pinkette ran to Alex and picked him up, swinging him to and fro in delight. "You came back, little guy!" she smiled. She let out a chuckle when the warmth of his tongue brushed over her cheek. "I was hoping you'd come." She turned to Brutus and smiled at him.

"Don't worry old boy. This is my friend," she reassured.

Alex let out a nervous chirrup when the bear nodded. It was obvious he wasn't that convinced about Alex being friendly, but all his worry was set aside. After all, he had found Amu! While happily congratulating himself on a job well done he again failed to notice someone come up to him. "Uncle, this is the little guy I was talking about!" Amu's voice snapped him out of his self-contentment. Alex turned around. He met a tall young man. He looked to be in his early twenties. Alex noted he looked nothing like Amu because he was a blue-eyed brunette.

When he sniffed at the man, Alex felt his mouth water. Various scents of icing and cake filled him. This man was covered in sweet scents! "Ah, so you're the little gentleman who kept my niece company, eh? Nice to meet you, then! I'm Shuu Hinamori." Alex found this man as likeable as his niece. His voice was sweet like his scent and there was a warm air around him. It was very approachable.

He openly accepted Shuu's hand with a purr when the man patted him on the head. "You know, you're not supposed to be here. If Amu hadn't been here sooner my Brutus would've torn you up like he would any Forest Wolf. Those rascals keep trying to eat my reindeer. I can't have that…Oh, don't be worried little thing. My warrior won't hurt you anymore, no sir." Alex cringed at the thought of hungry wolves being mutilated by the big brute. It made him shiver.

"Amu, bring him in. He looks famished." Shuu said.

"Can he sleep here for the night?" asked Amu.

"I don't see why not."

Alex felt his spirits lift with Amu's as they both made their way to the house. Brutus sat by the doorway and watched him closely as he passed by. Shuu started rambling on about the cakes he'd make for him But the little creature could only hear the pinkette's voice as she spoke.

"You're going to love uncle's Cheesecake!"

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Well, there's the prologue. I hope it wasn't too confusing for you readers. Oh, here. I'll give you a few term definitions:

**Animents - are animals that have elemental powers(mainly fire, wind, earth, water, and shadow/light). Some animals, like wolves, are further subdivided into elemental species. (Forest Wolves=Earth, Igneous Wolves=Fire, Storm Wolves=Water, Shadow wolves=Shadow/Light) Some species of animents have only one element like Tigers, who belong in the Fire Category. Some species of animents have species under all the elements, others have only two or three. Mages form Trustbonds with Animents to help enhance their magical properties. They draw their powers from the elemental spirit found within every animent.**

**Mages - Are the most powerful humans in the society. Every human is born a mage, but only some have the skill and endurance to develop their powers. A mage begins their training one they've acquired an Animent to be their Warrior. If a human cannot find their destined Warrior before they turn ten, they lose their magical properties forever. Unlike the wizards of Harry Potter, mages do not need wands of any sort. They use chants and cast it with their fingers. More advanced mages can cast a spell/charm/curse just by looking at their opponent and thinking about the spell. Weapons like swords or staffs help amplify a mage's spell, but they are not a requirement.**

**Warriors - it is a mage term for an animent who formed a trustbond with a human. Warriors are usually loyal animents that stick by their mage's side to the very end. They provide most of the raw, elemental power their mages need and also serve as "protectors" for their human companions. Once an animent finds a mage, its powers are amplified greatly due to the mage's own spiritual power. The type of warrior a mage gets reflects who they are. Mages with dragons, fairies, phoenixes, or big cats are known to be incredibly strong.**

**Trustbond - an Ancient pact performed by a human and an animent. The human must recite an ancient chant of which indicates his/her willingness of becoming the animent's "other half" and willingness to share his/her fate with it. The animent then agrees with a nod. A blinding light then consumes both human and animent. During that time, their spirits are torn away from their bodies and combined as one soul. They each keep a part of that soul and therefore will share the same fate if one of them dies. Occasionally, the Trustbond gives the human and animent a sense of empathy towards one another, allowing both parties to know how the other feels. Forming a trustbond is a life-long commitment.**

****I guess that'll do for now. Anyway, please rate and review my story! Comments and criticisms are a big help in speeding up updates, you know. Thanks again for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

Well, here's the first chapter! I hope the wait wasn't too long. It took me a tad longer than I had anticipated, but I finished it nonetheless. Yay. Anyway, not much romance or adventure in this chapter, but I think'll it'll do. The next chapter will be hopefully more...interesting. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of its canon characters.

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**Chapter 1**

"Good Morning, Amu-chan!"

"Hey Amu-san, busy delivering orders already, eh?"

"Ah, thank you Amu-chan. I really needed these Half-root Turnips."

Amu's day was busily spent. The pinkette had a lot of things to deliver. Her uncle had been given tons of orders for vegetables, fruits and his ever famous pastries. She always loved it when the townsfolk of Heion received what they ordered. They always had happy smiles on their faces when she visited them. Nevertheless, all this running about was terribly exhausting. Morning had barely come to an end and Amu had already run throughout Heion. Thrice. With all these orders to deliver, Amu barely had any time to stop and chat. Oh, but she wasn't lonely. She had her warrior right beside her as she went about her daily routine.

"Only five more deliveries to go Alex and we'll be for the rest of the day," she told the furry creature on her shoulder. Said creature let out a happy mew, his furry dragon-like tail wagging. His purple eyes were brimming with anticipation for the long awaited break. "_Five more, five more!_" he chanted. Amu was glad she had Alex. She didn't know how she could possibly do her deliveries without the creature's jocund company. He would make her laugh with his funny antics and relive her of her tiredness with just a small mew. Eight years of the same boring routine had flown by, leaving a trail of happy memories in their wake because of Alex. Amu and her little warrior had been inseparable since she first met him as a three year old.

Everything just seemed better when Alex came into the pinkette's life. He was her best friend. He knew how to cheer her up and was always there for her. Even as she went to deliver strawberries to Mrs. Mcgilleny, Alex was there to make her smile. Mrs. Mcgilleny happily accepted the tray of blood-red fruit. "Thank you, Amu. I can't wait to turn these strawberries into my famous tarts," she said with a toothy grin. The pinkette nodded in turn. "I'm sure they'll be as delicious as always." Amu said.

"And as always, you and little Alex will get the best of the batch." The red head chuckled.

"You're too kind, Mrs. Mcgilleny." said Amu.

"Oh, it's nothing, dearie. Besides, you and Alex have been so diligent this spring. Shuu must be proud to have such a helpful girl like you."

"I do what I can."

With a wave of goodbye to the chubby woman, Amu went to Mayor Hamilton's house. "Last one of the day, Alex." She giggled when her warrior let out a happy chirrup. Amu would always save Mayor Hamilton for last; she enjoyed listening to his riveting conversations. The pinkette made her way up to the large building that was the mayor's home. "Mayor Hamilton, I've got your Jingleberries!" she said. Alex leaned forward and rapped on the door. Mayor Hamilton stepped out and happily greeted the two of them. "Ah, Amu-san! Good to see you. I see your doing well. Oh, my Jingleberries! I've been waiting for these, I have. They look positively ripe. I can't wait to eat these." It was amazing how the little man could cram all those words within one breath. It didn't surprise Amu however. Despite being only four feet, the mayor had very strong lungs.

Mayor Hamilton took the tray of blue berries from the pinkette and gave her three gold coins. "A little tip, my dear." he said with a hearty grin. Amu uttered a thank you before turning to go. She stopped, however, when Mayor Hamilton spoke.

"Oh, I hope I do hope you're okay with it, Amu-san. I'd hate to impose, but I am ever so busy with all the paperwork to finish."

The Mayor had asked her to deliver a basket of ingredients to Shaggy, the chef who worked in Mage Lodge. The little man yammered on with apologies. It was hard for Amu to find a good time to interject. Alex helped her out. The creature took a deep breath and skillfully faked a sneeze. Mayor Hamilton stopped talking. "Bless you," he said. Always the gentleman, Amu thought.

"Mayor, it's really no trouble at all. I was going to go to Mage lodge anyway." Amu quickly said.

"Oh, good then. Thank you, Amu-san. I'll see you around then."

With that, the little man turned and wobbled, yes wobbled, into his house. The pinkette let out a loud sigh. "Thanks, Alex." Said she, to which her creature responded with a smile. With the basket of ingredients at hand, they treaded towards the large inn that was "Mage Lodge". The lodge was one of Amu's favorite places to go to. As the name might've suggested, the lodge was home to many travelling mages. They would come and go, some staying longer than they should, others only staying for a night.

Amu personally knew two of the mages that lived there: Nate and Sasaki. They had come to Mage lodge like any other visitor, but they ended up becoming permanent residents after a few months. Nate was a good friend of her uncle, he'd drop by every now and then for a friendly chat with the eccentric patisserie. The brunette was in his late twenties and was quite the storyteller. Every time Amu would come to visit the two of them, Nate always had another one of his adventures to tell her.

She loved listening to him, he had a way with words and made his stories come to life as he'd tell them. "Nate, Sasaki! How's it going?" she greeted. The two mages were relaxing up on the inn's porch when she had arrived. Both men flashed her dashing smiles. "Hey, Amu! Woah, you're done with your routine already?" Nate chuckled. "You must really want to see me." Alex rolled his eyes. Her little creature never really warmed up to Nate. She assumed it was because of what Nate did when they first met.

"Ow!" Nate said.

Sasaki had struck him on the head with the book he was reading. "Don't be so full of yourself, Nate," he warned. "And you call yourself a grown-up." Nate put on a hurt expression while he let out a mock sigh. "Oh, is the grumpy old grandpa mad at little old me?" he gasped. Amu struggled to keep in a giggle. Sasaki was the mature type. He was serious and silent, not to mention sharp-eyed. He did, however, had a soft spot for kids. Perhaps that was why he tolerated Nate's childish antics.

"So," Sasaki suddenly said.

"What's with the basket?" Nate finished.

Amu pointed at the window to a large blonde man with a shaggy beard. He was wearing a chef's hat and an apron that said, "Kiss the Cook". Nate nodded, he got the message. "Ah, Hamilton finally got Shaggy's supplies, huh?" he said. The pinkette smiled and went into the lodge where the chef was.

"Morning, Shaggy."

"Morning Miss Hinamori. Ah, that old egg finally got meh supplies, I sees."

"Mmm-hmm. Nice Apron."

"Thanks, ma'am. Mah niece got it fer me. What do ye think?"

"It brings out your eyes."

The two shared hearty laughs. Amu didn't know why so many kids were afraid of Shaggy. He was a sweet man. His sinewy, scarred body might put one off, but he was a gentle giant. "How's Miritus?" Amu asked, she hadn't seen hide or hair of Shaggy's warrior. As if in response, a loud trill sounded from one of the rafters. Amu looked up to see a huge bird with brown and white plumage that rippled with electrical current. "Hey Miritus." Amu had to cup her hands to be heard by the old eagle. Miritus let out a happy screech and jumped from his perch. He landed on the outstretched arm of Shaggy.

"Anyway, why _do_ you need those ingredients so badly, Shaggy?" Amu said. The blonde scratched his beard, fiddling around a few of the curly locks. "Mayor Hamilton's asked me to prepare a dish fer this visitor tha's comin' by in a fortnight. I wanted it to be special, so I decided to make mah famous Bison Stew," he said. "Most of the spices come from mah homeland, so it's rare to find them here in Heion."Curiosity poked at Amu. Her honey-gold eyes twinkled.

"Who is he?"

"Ah'm afraid I don't know ma'am."

"Aww.."

"Mayor Hamilton never told me."

Amu let out a sigh and headed back for Nate and Sasaki. "Thanks anyway, Shaggy." Amu added.

The two mages made room for her to sit on the bench. "So, what's the story for today?" she eagerly said. Before Nate could answer, Sasaki spoke out. "How about I tell you the time when Nate and I got lost in Snowfall Desert?" he said. Amu was quick to nod, Alex joined along and sat himself on the pinkette's lap. While Sasaki spoke of Ice Boas and Snow Bats, Alex waved at the two bloodhounds by the two mages' feet. "_Hey, Touru. Hi, Kaoru._" Alex mewed. The bloodhounds lazily winked at the furry creature before dozing back into a snooze.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"Sasaki-san, where did you guys learn to be mages?"

Amu had been wondering that for some months now. After Sasaki had finished his story, she decided to try and quench her curiosity. The mage ran a hand through his blue locks. "That's easy, we went to Holy Seiyo Academy or HSA for short." Sasaki said. "Many people say it's the best place to hone your mage skills. We certainly enjoyed our time there."

Nate let out a chortle. "Ha, you mean _you_ enjoyed your time there. It was terrible for me. You see Amu, you've got to study tons of subjects and learn lots of techniques, and don't get me started on the House Competitiveness. Boy, it was like a mini war zone there." Nate didn't seem to be joking, but his smiling face confused the pinkette. How could one hate something yet smile about it? Sasaki huffed in response.

"Ignore him, Amu-chan. He's not exactly the brightest bulb in the room, if you know what I mean,"

"Hey!" Nate defended.

Amu let them bicker on. She wasn't really paying attention to them now. Her mind focused on HSA. She had heard about the wonderful academy. The founders of that academy were the four Arch Mages, the greatest mages in mage history. The pinkette dreamed of going there, to be a mage was the greatest thing on Earth. Just then, a loud chiming hummed throughout Heion. Amu snapped out of her daze to look at the town's clock tower. "What the heck? It's five already?" she bolted from her seat, promptly knocking poor Alex to the floor.

"_Hey_!" he mewed indignantly.

The pinkette turned and picked her warrior up, quickly muttering apologies to him. "Bye Nate, bye Sasaki! I've got to go!" she waved at the two mages who were, apparently, still bickering about their school life. They turned and waved back at her before resuming their bickering. Amu rushed through the town streets, she skillfully avoided bumping into anyone. "_Cart!_" Alex's warning reached Amu just in time. She dropped into a slide as she narrowly dodged a bun cart's handle. The pinkette didn't miss a beat and continued running. If she was late for supper again, Shuu would definitely scold her. It wasn't as if the man was scary when he was mad, Amu just didn't want to disappoint him.

Amu arrived home on the nick of time. She stumbled into the living room with a loud bump. "Ouch!" she squeaked. Alex was quick to help her up, nudging her with his cheek. The furry creature leaped into her arms and licked at a small bruise on her cheek. Amu patted her warrior on the head. "Thanks, Alex." she said. They made their way to the dining room. Shuu was patiently waiting for them on his seat. "Hello Amu-chan, Alex-kun. Sit, I made a wonderful Roast Beef." His voice was merry as always.

"Thanks Shuu-san."

"Don't mention it. So, how was your day?"

"Fine. I hear Mayor Hamilton's going to have a visitor in a couple of weeks."

"Really? Huh, I wasn't expecting anyone to visit him this time of the year."

"I also talked with Nate and Sasaki today."

"As always."

Amu swallowed a chunk of the juicy beef. "Hey Shuu-san, what do you think of me being a mage?" she suddenly asked. The brunette swallowed his last bit of supper and wiped his mouth with a napkin before he spoke. "I think that's a great idea," he said. "You and Alex have been practicing relentlessly for years. What school do you want to go to?" Shuu took a sip of hot milk while he waited, but nearly spat it back out when he heard her choice.

He had to wipe a few drops of milk from his face. "HSA? My dear, that's a bit….farfetched don't you think?" he said. Amu tilted her head in confusion. "Eh? What do you mean?" Amu demanded.

"Well, chances of getting in HSA are very slim. Among all the mage schools, HSA has the least number of students. That's because their standards are very high." Shuu said.

"But uncle, that's what makes it all the more fun! The harder the challenge, the more rewarding it will be when you reach your goal. You said that."

"I did, didn't I?"

Shuu thought for a moment. His blue eyes were glazed in deep thought. "Well dear, go ahead and aim for HSA. I'll support you with whatever you choose." he chuckled. Amu grinned at her uncle. "Thanks, Shuu-san," she said. Shuu waved his hand dismissively and began serving the cheesecake dessert.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"Come on Alex, we can't let that sneaky wolf get away with that fawn!"

Two bodies ran through the forest foliage. Amu and her warrior were in hot pursuit of a rogue Forest Wolf. It had the gall to come and steal one of her uncle's calves. Bushes and branches were all but blurs as the both of them sprinted after the terrified little thief. They almost had the wolf, too, until it climbed up some steep cliffs. "Come back and fight fair you no-good calf-stealer!" she shouted. They jumped out of the way when a huge ball of energy was blasted at them. The Forest Wolf dared to shoot at them!

"Oh, the gloves are off now!" Amu shouted. She nodded at Alex.

Despite her warrior being the size of a large cat, Alex was a strong little warrior. He sucked in a huge gulp of air, his cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk's, and shot out a ball of shadows equal to the wolf's height. A loud whine followed when the shadow ball crashed into the side of the cliff. Both Forest Wolf and reindeer calf fell with the destroyed cliff. Amu jumped. She leaped from one falling rock to another till she reached the calf. Hands outstretched, she grabbed the calf and made one more leap. She landed on the ground with a soft thump.

"You okay, Wilbert?" she said to the calf. Said calf was a bit shaken, he was shivering from all the adrenaline. Nevertheless, he nodded his answer and licked the pinkette on the cheek. Amu giggled and patted the calf on the head. Alex padded over to her and let out a proud mew. "Yes, yes. You were great too," she laughed. Amu turned her attention back to the pile of rocks. The Forest Wolf didn't survive the fall. Though it was her job to make sure the farm was safe, she always felt sad when an animent had to die. She left Wilbert with Alex and went to work, carefully arranging some of the rocks into an ordered manor.

"Rest in peace," she whispered.

Amu found it fair to give the wolf a proper burial, even if it was a thief. She said a few prayers and then headed back for the farm. "Come on you two, Uncle's waiting for us." Amu said. The three of them made their way back home. Many of the townsfolk thought that Amu was still too young to do such dangerous tasks. Imagine sending an eleven year old into a forest teeming with Forest Wolves, accompanied by an animent that was about as intimidating as a kitten. Surely with a big bear for a warrior her uncle should be the one to do this?

What the townsfolk didn't know was that Amu had begged her uncle to give her this task. She wanted knowledge gained through experience, she wanted training. Shuu had rejected her plea at first, but gave in eventually. He was a sucker for his niece.

Shuu was waiting for them by the farm gate, he looked pale with worry. Amu had to stifle a giggle. Shuu might've accepted Amu's plea, but it didn't stop him from worrying about her like a mother would. He wrapped her in a choking hug, tears pouring down his face like waterfalls. "I heard a terrible boom and thought you were hurt! You weren't hurt were you? You were hurt! I knew it! I knew I shouldn't have complied with your plea. You're too young to die!" Sometimes, Amu saw Hamilton in her uncle. When worried, it was like he had an endless supply of air.

"Uncle, I'm fine. I didn't even get scratched."

"Then what's that red thing on your hair? It's blood isn't it? You'll die of blood loss!"

"Uncle, that's my hair clip, remember?"

"Oh. Well then…"

Shuu cleared his throat. He let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh, Wilbert! Good to see you back! Come boy, your mother's been worrying terribly. Good job Amu-chan! So I'll just bring Wilbert back to stable and cook up some snacks. Okay, bye!" Her uncle speeded off with calf following behind him. Amu chuckled. Shuu was a weird uncle, but he was her weird uncle. She bent down and picked Alex up. He clambered up on her shoulder. "Let's take a break," she told her warrior.

The day passed by slowly. Amu and Alex were relaxing in the meadow, her uncle's reindeer grazed by them. Her honey-gold eyes were glued on the sky or, rather, the clouds. She liked how they looked and wondered how they would feel between her fingers. "_You want to fly?_" Alex inquired. She nodded. She felt drawn to the sky in a way. Alex snuggled up to her arm. "_I'm not as soft as a cloud, but I'm still soft_." he purred. Amu loved it when Alex cheered her up. She never needed to tell him anything, he always kind of knew what was on her mind, and he knew just how to cheer her up.

"Yeah, and you're cute."

"_Oh, stop it you_."

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Days had passed by quickly, Amu didn't waste a moment of it. Whenever she wasn't busy working in the fields, delivering orders, or taking care of the reindeer, Amu trained hard with Alex at combat. Her uncle, being the mage he had been, taught her a few basic spells. Amu practiced them to perfection or, at other times, till she exhausted herself. It was dawn at the time, Amu was busy grooming the last reindeer in the stall. "Hold still, Aristol. These burrs won't come off of you unless you let me brush it off!" she snapped, impatiently trying to brush the stubborn Reindeer. Aristol let out a loud huff and stood still. With the burr gone, Amu took Aristol back to his stall and rushed back to the house for a quick shower.

Once finished, she took the cakes and fruits from her uncle and carefully placed them in her basket. "Be safe." Shuu said. Amu nodded and set off. Alex followed her down the path to town. Her mind began to fill with the orders. She plotted out a route that would help her deliver the orders quickly. "Let's see, first I go to Gill's, then to Hisoka, and then Kiri…." she muttered. Her thoughts were interrupted by her warrior's shrill hiss. She turned to where Alex was hissing at and was shocked by what she saw.

Surrounded by a pack of hungry Forest Wolves was a young blonde man. He had been cornered into a tree and he quickly climbed up to a high branch. The wolves were snarling and growling at him, they leaped and vainly tried grabbing his leg. Despite the trouble he was in, the man didn't seem worried. In fact, he seemed to be looking at the wolves quite curiously. His right arm had been clawed and was bleeding profusely, but he didn't look hurt at all.

"Is he mad?" Amu scoffed. "Come on Alex! Let's help him out." Amu placed her basket on the road and dashed at the wolves. Her furry warrior ran right next to her and shot out a ball of light. It exploded at the pack's feet and made them redirect their hungry gazes on the two of them. The Forest Wolves let out battle growls and charged at the pinkette and her companion. Amu leaped over one wolf and roughly kicked it near its forelegs. It stumbled, letting out a surprised yelp, and then ran back into the forest. "_To your left!_" she thought. Alex dodged a lunge from one wolf and shot out another light ball. It was blasted back a few feet and then made a hasty escape.

Pretty soon, the whole pack ran away, their tails in between their tail and their mouths releasing frightened yelps. Amu wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "We showed them, huh Alex?" she grinned at her warrior. The furry creature nodded and leaped on Amu's shoulder. "_Yup!_" he chirruped. The pinkette grabbed her basket and made her way to the blonde man. She was surprised to find him clapping when she was at the base of the tree.

"Oh, splendid performance, miss. You have a nice style." he praised.

The man leaped down from his branch and landed right in front of Amu. She let out a small squeak and stumbled back in surprise. "Thank you for rescuing me." he said. Amu stuttered a welcome before she took the man's hand. She inspected his wound and fished out some alcohol and gauze. "May I?" she asked sheepishly. The man happily nodded. She was quick to cover the wound. The blonde man looked at his arm and beamed at her. "And you're a good medic, too? Impressive indeed." the man said.

"Thank you. How did you end up with those wolves chasing you?"

"I was exploring the town. I'm new here. I saw a few of them near those trees and went to observe them, but instead they were the ones to observe me. As a meal."

"That seems foolish. Forest Wolves don't like to have their privacy invaded."

"I can see that now. Anyway, you handled those wolves quite easily. Have you fought Forest Wolves before?"

Amu nodded. "I see them almost every day. They always look for an opportunity to eat one of my uncle's reindeer." she explained. "The trick to beating them is looking for their weak spot and strike at it. I try not to hit too hard. I just need to scare them off." Amu failed to notice a flash of delighted surprise on the man's face. He nodded and muttered something inaudibly. She looked at him curiously but looked away when his purple eyes connected with her gaze.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" she quickly asked. "It's not safe for a stranger to wander here alone." The blonde pointed up the path to her farm. He grinned at her before he spoke. "I was just wandering about the town when I caught a whiff of something delicious. I followed the scent to this place and that's when I spotted those wolves." Amu sniffed at the air. It _did_ have the strong scent of muffins.

"My uncle's a patisserie. He spends most of his time baking." The man let out an "Ahh" and just stood there for a while. Amu looked at him curiously. Odd, she thought.

"Do you know where I can find the Mayor's house? I'm supposed to meet him." The man looked at Amu expectantly.

"I can show you. I'm going there to deliver some cake anyway," she replied.

Amu led the man to Hamilton's house. She didn't like the awkward silence as they made their way down the streets. A very worried Hamilton greeted them when they reached his house. He met them halfway and let out a relieved sigh. "Goodness, where have you been? I turn my back for a moment and you just go poof!" the chubby man fretted.

"Hello Hamilton." The man let out a chuckle and bent over to shuffle the mayor's hair up.

Amu stood there and watched the mayor furiously fix his hair. "Or toupee.." she whispered. Mayor Hamilton gave the man a stern look, he looked like he was about to explode with anger. But his expression changed and he let out a bellowing laugh. "Just like old times, eh Tsukasa?" Hamilton said. The blonde man nodded. "Indeed," he replied.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"I'm Tsukasa Hotari, it's a delight to meet you Amu-san."

Amu was struggling to keep in her excitement. She never thought that this man, this tall, somewhat weak-looking man, was the powerful headmaster of HSA! Tsukasa had invited her and Alex to tea. It came as quite a shock to her when she found out about his identity. She nearly spat out her drink of Jasmine Tea. "I-i-it's a p-privilege to meet you, sir." Amu stuttered. Tsukasa chuckled. A shy one, he mused.

Tsukasa was impressed by the pair, very impressed. It was barely audible, little more than a whisper. But Amu and Alex heard it, a small growl. They looked behind their seats and saw a humongous lion near the door to the Tea Room. His golden mane glistened under the sun and he showed off his impressive set of teeth. The pinkette got up from her seat and assumed a defense stance. Tsukasa smiled. "Very good reaction," he muttered.

Tsukasa snapped his fingers, the lion sat down. "Ah, Hikaze, you're here. Amu, I'd like you to meet my warrior."

Amu shifted back to her usual stance and blinked at the lion. He blinked in response. She turned back to Tsukasa and smiled. "He's very nice, a gentleman too." she complimented. Amu sat back on her chair and relaxed a bit. Alex, being as cautious as he was, waited a bit more before settling down on his partner's lap. Amu felt Hikaze brush past her as he made his way to Tsukasa's side. The lion paused for a moment and gave her another stare before though. Tsukasa patted the lion on his head.

"He's my oldest friend. He seemed a bit tired when we came here, so I let him take a nap. That's why I was all alone." Tsukasa said.

"Cool, you're very strong. A mage friend of mine told me only advanced mages can separate from their warriors without much worry." Amu said.

"Thank you for the compliment, Amu-san. You see, I could've taken those wolves on. Then you came and did it before I could. I'm glad you did. I got to witness some spectacular show of skill."

Hamilton had been silently sipping his tea all the while, but he couldn't help but get in on the conversation.

"Oh, yes! Tsukasa my friend, Amu is training to be a mage, she is! I've seen her practicing when I'd go and visit her uncle. It was absolutely exemplary, if I do say so myself. It's wonderful to see youth so hardworking." he chuckled.

"You don't say? This is most wonderful indeed. I came here to meet an old friend, and I am ever so serendipitous to meet another person: you."

Amu gulped down her tea and stared at him suspiciously. "Me?" she said. Tsukasa nodded, his purple eyes were beaming at her. "W-why? What do you mean?" Amu honestly had no clue what the blonde man meant. This caused him to let out a laugh. "You're very interesting!" he smiled, "How would you like to be an apprentice at HSA? Someone with your potential could be a great mage if trained correctly."

Amu and Alex's eyes widened in surprise, sheer, delighted surprise. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. "I…" Tsukasa smiled at her.

"I take that as a 'yes' then?" he said.

Amu snapped out of her daze and eagerly nodded. "Oh yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" she smiled. The pinkette wanted to squeal with delight. Becoming a mage seemed like a reality now. If she could graduate from HSA, then she'd finally be what she dreamed of being: a mage. Alex was less concerned of his manners. He let out a happy chortle, he chirruped and danced around his partner's lap. "_HSA, we're going to HSA!_" he mewed.

Mayor Hamilton joined the furry warrior's celebrating. He raised his cup up and let out a loud chuckle. "How wonderful, absolutely perfect! Amu dear, you'll make Heion proud for sure, I know it!" the chubby man boasted. Tsukasa nodded in silent agreement and resumed his tea-sipping. Amu joined in too and, this time, a happy grin plastered itself on her face.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Amu waved at Tsukasa, his carriage was getting farther from town. She was sad to see the man go, she just loved the stories he told her. But being the headmaster of an academy, Tsukasa had a busy schedule.

"I'll send you the letter in a week's time, Amu-san! You and Alex take care!" Tsukasa told them. "I look forward to seeing you this school term!"

He poked his head out of the carriage window and waved back. Pretty soon, all that was left of the carriage was a trail of dust. Amu plucked Alex off from her shoulder and spun him around. She was beyond ecstasy. "We did it, Alex! I'm going to be an apprentice! I'll be a mage in no time, and you'll be an official mage warrior!" she giggled. Her warrior cheered along and laughed with her.

They would've stayed that way too, until Amu remembered the orders she still had to deliver. "Oh, crap!" she cursed. The pinkette quickly gave out the deliveries, apologizing to all her clients of her tardiness. They didn't seem to mind however. Hamilton, being the chatterbox he was, had already told half of the town of the splendid news. The townsfolk congratulated Amu.

"Congratulations, ma'am!" Shaggy said.

"Good luck there, Amu-chan!" Nate cheered.

"Do send my regards to Headmaster Tsukasa." Sasaki said.

All of the townsfolk's congratulations were nothing compared to Shuu's reaction. The moment she told him of becoming an apprentice, her uncle quickly whipped up a little party in the meadow. All the reindeer on the farm celebrated with her, even Brutus joined in and gobbled up a good number of blueberry muffins. Shuu made her a huge Strawberry Shortcake. It was Amu's favorite.

"I knew you'd find a way to get into HSA, but I didn't know it'd be that quick!" he joked.

Amu felt really happy that day. She was going to go to her dream school, a dream that was now very much a reality. "I think I'll have another slice of Shortcake, please!" she giggled.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Never did a day seem to go by so slowly in her life. Amu couldn't wait for the letter to arrive. She did all her chores happily and did at twice the speed and efficiency. She wanted to have more time for practicing. Her uncle pitched in and gave her a few history books to read. "Knowing the events of the past is very useful." he had told her. Amu juggled reading, practicing, and chore-doing every day. Yet no matter how occupied she was, time still seemed to move slower than usual.

"Ah, time. Thou art a cruel mistress." she once sighed.

Then that fateful morning arrived. Amu answered a knock on her door and was surprised to see a fairy dragon. The falcon-sized dragon shoved a letter in her hands and flew off without a moment wasted. Her eyes widened, the seal of HSA was stamped over the envelope. "Alex, Uncle, the letter's here!" she called. Alex was first to arrive, he hopped on her shoulder and looked at the lovely-looking envelope. "_It smells fancy_." Alex sniffed. Amu didn't waste any time. She opened the envelope and eagerly read the letter's contents.

_Dear Amu Hinamori,_

_Congratulations! You have been selected to attend the prestigious school of Holy Seiyo Academy as a full scholar for all your school years. I have listed down the things you'll need to have for this school term. Our school's Sky Whale at Whaleport City will take you and the rest of the apprentices to Seiyo Isle on the 3__rd__ of September. Do be on time. I look forward to seeing you attend classes._

_Yours Truly, _

_Tsukasa Hotari_

Inserted in the letter were two whale tickets, the pinkette figured they were for her and Alex. Amu found another piece of paper that had the things she needed. It read:

_Bring your warrior with you_

_1 small cauldron_

_Black letter pens_

"_Potions I" textbook_

"_Basic Spells and Curses" textbook_

"_Mage History I" textbook_

"_The Art of Combat 101" book_

_4 Empty hardbound books(for note-taking)_

_Satchel(Jet-black, Rinno brand is recommended)_

_1 Crystal ball(small size, like a baseball)_

"I don't know where I can get a crystal ball, and I don't think any stores have the kind of satchel I need." Amu sighed. The rest of the requirements, however, she could buy at the town bookstore.

It was sweet of the bookstore owner to give her a discount on the items she bought. "Thanks Hiro-san." she told the old owner. Amu walked back home with a bag full of the things she needed. Alex was waiting for her in her room. He had busily packed her large suitcase while she was gone and seemed pretty proud of himself for his accomplishment. Amu kissed her warrior a thank you and brought him down with her when Shuu called for her.

"This is for you. They were mine when I was an apprentice," he grinned.

A beautiful crystal ball and satchel were lying on the dining table. They were old, but looked as if they were freshly bought. The pinkette thanked her uncle. He just smiled in return. Amu had almost forgotten her uncle was a mage. Shuu used to take on missions like any other professional mage, but soon turned for the sweet-making business. "They're lovely, Shuu-san. Thank you." Amu said.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

The days slowly passed by. The day of September 3rd had finally come and Amu made a last-minute check-up of her stuff. She didn't want to leave anything behind. She headed downstairs after re-inspecting her suitcase and satchel, her carriage was waiting for her. "Amu, matte! I have something for you." Amu was halfway through the door when her uncle called her. Alex eyed the man curiously as Shuu went upstairs. There was a loud clattering and clanking upstairs before Shuu re-emerged with a staff in his hands. It glistened with a warm glow that seemingly radiated from its wooden body. "I want you to have this. It'll be of great use to you, I just know it," he said.

The staff looked simple. It seemed to be made out of a variety of wood. It seemed impossible, but the different kinds of wood mixed with each other perfectly, as if it were a new type of wood. It was very sturdy, but it had a sense of flexibility and was rather light-weight. Amu loved it. She took it from her uncle and gave him a big hug. She fought to suppress the tears in her eyes. She didn't like crying that much. "Take care of yourself, Amu-chan." her uncle whispered.

"I will." she replied.

The pinkette called for her warrior, he hurriedly propped himself up on her shoulder. She waved a goodbye to her uncle and Brutus, the reindeer, and all of Heion when her carriage took off. Heion seemed to be getting farther and farther away as the carriage's reindeer trotted off. Amu leaned back in her seat, Alex settled beside her. "Well, boy. This is it. We're really going to HSA," she sighed. Alex let out a happy chirrup. "_We're going to be mages_!" he mewed excitedly. Amu nodded and patted his furry little head. "That's right. We're one step closer to fulfilling our dreams." she said.

Amu poked her head out the window and felt the nice breeze of forest air flow by her. She took in a great big gulp of it and sighed quite contentedly. Alex did the same thing too. The little creature stuck out his tongue and enjoyed the wind's taste on his little pink tastebuds.

The pinkette looked at the unwinding road. She had never gone out of her town before, but for some reason, she wasn't afraid. Only excitement and determination coursed through her veins now. She just knew: her life was finally beginning.

* * *

That's the end of chapter one! Hope you liked it! Look forward for the next chapter! Do rate and review, it speeds up the pace of updates, you know. It gives me inspiration. Oh, and here a few MM fun facts:

**• HSA, like most mage schools in this world, is located in a place where only mages can go. Some schools are in a lake, underneath a volcano, etc... HSA is a floating island that is only reachable by strong flyers, like Sky Whales or dragons. It has a protective barrier that usually keeps intruders out and it has a tough security system...of birds!**

**• Sky Whales - are a one of the two element-specified animent of whales(One in the air element, one in the water element). Sky Whales look like their aquatic cousins, differing only in color and body anatomy. Their skins are a hazy gray with hints of sky blue and white. They eat clouds and blow out oxygen through their blow holes. Aside from their baleen found in their mouths, a Sky Whale's body is practically empty. They can live for thousands of years before they fade into clouds. They breed only once every century. Sky Whales have made an agreement with the humans and act as living airplanes. Mages have built cabins and compartments in the whales' bodies where passengers can stay during the trip. Sky Whales are very intelligent and can take orders from mages on where they'll be taking people to. Because of the Mages' magic, the inside of a Sky Whale has its own gravity and is unaffected by the whale's moving about. **

**• Reindeer - is a an animent that doesn't appear to have a set elemental species. Its element is affected by its environment and makes this animent a very adaptable species. They are used by humans to pull carriages or carts. Over the years, humans and mages alike seem to favor the reindeer more than horses. Reindeer are very fast and sure-footed, being able to walk on almost any type of land. They can go for days without food and water and form very strong bonds with their handlers. They are loyal and ever dependable.**


	3. Chapter 2

****Hello there readers! I am so terribly, absolutely sorry for this horribly late update. I had so much on my plate these past weeks, honestly. I've finally managed to finish this chapter however. I hope you'll forgive me. Anyway, this chapter introduces Amu's future best friend in this story. Since it's a Tadamu fic, Amu and her new best friend won't end up together. However, there will be a few fluffy scenes for them. I hope you'll like this!

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character of Shugo Chara!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The steady rhythm of hooves pounded across cobblestone streets.

Numerous voices overlapped each other in never ending conversations.

Beautiful melodies that mingled with the wind played through the calm air.

The sun was beating gently over the land, so happening to warm up a particular sleeping soul. Her eyes were slow to open. The honey-gold hue of her eyes shone brightly back at the sun before they narrowed and were shut again. "Oh, that was too bright…." Amu groaned. The pinkette rose up from the seat she had slept on, stretching a few muscles in the process. She looked down at the ball of fur curled up in her lap. She smiled.

"Wake up, Alex. Nap time's over," said she with a gentle tone.

Her warrior stirred, his ears twitching and his snout scrunching. Alex let out a loud yawn when he finally got up. His drowsy gaze struggled to focus on Amu. "_Hello_…" he meowed. Amu smiled in return. "I think we're at Whaleport." she said. The pinkette stuck her head out the carriage window. Her eyes gleamed with excitement with what she saw.

All around her people were walking about the crowded streets. Carriages were busily criss-crossing the city roads with frightening speed and aggression. The vendors of numerous stalls shouted out lyrical words to advertise their products and wears. Amu had never seen so much life in one place. "Wow, the tension level out here is unbelievable!" she said. Alex looked about as well. He took in a gulp of air and nearly had a bout of coughs from all the strong scents. The furry creature darted back to his seat and buried his nose into Amu's satchel.

"Too many scents, Alex?" Amu asked.

"Yup, _too strong…._" her warrior confirmed.

Amu laughed and pulled her warrior out of his hiding. She promptly stuck his head out the window. "You'll get used to it. It's not so bad actually." she told the furry creature. Alex pinched his nose in dismay. "I guess so. But the fish scent stinks." he grumbled.

The pinkette enjoyed watching people go about their lives as her carriage rode up the cobblestone streets of the busy market. It was a first for Amu to be in a new town. She had never left Heion in her life, but now she was in an entirely different environment, inhaling all the new scents, seeing new sights, and hearing unfamiliar sounds. She loved it. When her carriage came to a stop, Amu grabbed her staff, her suitcase, and placed Alex on her shoulder. The pinkette flashed a grin at the old man who drove the carriage.

"Thanks Tanaka-san. Say hi to Mary-san for me." she waved.

The man nodded and rode off, his carriage left a cloud of dust as it speeded out of sight. Amu looked at the buildings that towered over her. "Now, where is the Whale Port?" she mumbled. Amu decided to ask directions. It wouldn't be hard, she assumed. After all, with all the people around her, one of them was bound to know the location of Whale Port. One man came her way. Now was her chance.

"Um, excuse me sir. Do you know where I can find Wha…?" she started

The man rushed right past her. She blinked in surprise. "Maybe he didn't hear me?" she said. Amu saw a woman come by. "Excuse me, do you…" Amu began. The woman cut her off, glaring at the girl quite annoyingly. "Whatever you're selling, I'm _not_ interested in buying." she huffed. The woman pushed past her and hurried away.

Amu looked at the woman hotly. "Rude hag…" she muttered. The pinkette looked at her warrior. "They're not so friendly, are they?" she told him. Alex nodded his agreement. The pinkette sighed and decided to give up her plan. No one seemed to be in the mood to answer her question, much less talk to her. "I'll just find Whale Port on my own." she said. Amu pushed her way past the multitude of people crowding the sidewalks. She squeezed past a couple of fat guys, nearly getting flattened in the process and nearly collided with a baker carrying a tray of blueberry muffins.

"Hey, watch it you little runt!" the baker growled.

Alex let out a snarl and exposed his fangs to the nasty fellow. With a gasp, the baker rushed away. Amu laughed and gave her warrior a high five. "Nice one." she said. "Now, where is that port?" The pinkette tried to listen for the sound of whale songs again. However, she could barely hear her own thoughts with all the noisy interferences. Amu couldn't think straight with all the people pushing her. She decided to try and find a less crowded area, if that was possible.

Her eyes scanned the market and focused on a patch of street that was looser with people. Amu put on a determined face and nodded at Alex. In response, he tightened his grip on the pinkette's shoulder. "Out of the way! Make through! I'm walking here! Shoo, tubby!" she shouted, pushing past the people who previously pushed her. Amu let out a relieved sigh when she finally reached the other side. She was panting and a bit drained, but she was happy nonetheless.

"At least Forest Wolves are more organized. These people are nuts.." she said, glancing back at the swarm of hot-heads she had just escaped. Amu turned to continue her search, she had no time to just stay there and throw insults at random strangers, even if she wanted to. The pinkette barely took a step when she bumped, slammed rather, into a passerby. She, of course, hadn't anticipated the sudden collision. Amu struggled to keep her balance. When that failed, she steeled herself for impact with the ground. That didn't happen however.

Amu, who had closed her eyes, snapped them back open and found the stranger she had bumped into holding her wrists tightly. He pulled her back up and sighed.

"Phew, I'm glad you didn't fall." he chuckled, his green eyes gleaming cheerfully. Amu couldn't really reply at first. Her eyes were glued on the boy who had saved her.

Judging by his face, he seemed to be around her age. Perhaps a bit older, she considered. He had a lush head of alloy orange locks that stuck out in natural semi-spikes. His complexion was fairly tan. He had a tall, slender build. She also noticed both his ears were pierced. The boy had a wild air to him and looked to be the sporty type. What really caught her attention, however, were his eyes. She had seen people with green eyes before. She found that color to be relaxing and soothing to her own eyes. But his eyes were different. His hue of green got her all excited and energized. They were practically brimming with tireless energy.

"Um, you can let go of my arms now." she muttered sheepishly.

The boy looked at her arm and quickly released his grip on her. "Oh, geez. Sorry about that." he said. Amu nodded and rubbed her wrists gingerly. Her honey-gold eyes focused on him. "Thanks for stopping my fall. I guess I was careless," she said.

The boy shook his head and laughed. "Na. I was the clumsy one. Didn't look where I needed to look." he assured her. "Might as well just call me blind." The boy covered his eyes with his hands and looked around aimlessly. Amu laughed at his gesture. She liked his sense of humor. "Anyway, I'm Amu Hinamori. It's nice to meet you." she said. The pinkette pointed to Alex who, apparently, managed to keep his grip on her throughout the ordeal. "Oh, and this little fella is my warrior."

The boy nodded. "The name's Kukai Souma. You can call me Kukai." he grinned. Kukai looked behind him and whistled. Amu took a step back when a huge tiger came to answer the boy's call. She had never seen a bigger tiger in her life. The tiger sat down beside Kukai and let out a low rumbling sound. "This little devil here's my warrior. His name's Daichi." Kukai added, patting his tiger on the head. Amu nodded at Daichi. The tiger nodded in return. Kukai took a look at his watch and gasped. "Woah, it's that late already? I'll be late for the Sky Whale." he muttered.

Amu perked up. "_did he just say 'Sky Whale'?_" she thought. The pinkette thought a bit more and then turned to him. "Um, out of curiosity, where do you go to school?" she asked him. Kukai seemed a bit surprised by the question, but answered cheerfully nonetheless. "HSA of course! All mages aim to be an apprentice in that school." he chuckled, proudly straightening himself.

"I'm going to attend HSA too." Amu said.

Kukai's grin widened at that point. "No way, that's wicked awesome, dude." he laughed. "But what are you doing all the way over here? Whale Port's that way." Kukai pointed west. He grabbed her hand and dragged her along. "I came here to buy some snacks myself. I guess I lost track of time."

Amu didn't have a chance to protest. His grip on her wrist was pretty tight. "Anyway, I'll bring you two to the Whale Port. After all, we're both going to the same place." Kukai added. "But let's hurry, okay?" Taking in a deep breath, Kukai rocketed off, dragging Amu behind him. "We're going too fast!" she said. She watched as Daichi easily overtook them. Kukai looked at Amu quite amusedly.

"You kidding? We're just getting warmed up!" he grinned.

Amu was pulled through the streets, hastily dodging people as she followed Kukai. She felt her shoulders ache as Alex tightened his grip on her even more. Amazingly, Kukai didn't seem tired at all. He even began a conversation while they ran.

"So, how'd you get accepted in HSA?" Kukai shouted over the crowd.

"Well, I was given a scholarship." Amu replied.

"Ooh. Most of our apprentices enroll via scholarship. Who recommended you?"

"Tsukasa Hotari. He visited my town and offered me to go to his school."

"Tsukasa?!" Kukai gasped. He turned to face Amu and crashed into her. They were both sent rolling to the ground. Alex let out a surprised mew and leaped off just in time, neatly landing on the back of Daichi. The tiger came to a screeching halt as well and looked at the two teens worriedly. Amu was a bit disoriented from the crash. She shook her head and found herself pinned down to the ground by Kukai's body. Their faces were mere inches away from touching. She flushed a light pink.

Kukai's eyes widened and he quickly got off her, sitting on the ground next to her. He looked away, fighting to hide a faint blush that was quickly coloring his face with red. "Oh, sorry there." he chuckled nervously, averting his gaze to the sky. "It's just that…" Kukai turned to face Amu and helped her up. He patted off some dust from his clothes. "Well, Tsukasa isn't one to invite someone to HSA himself. You've got to be pretty talented to get his attention." Kukai explained. He cleared his throat and went to Alex. He placed the creature back on Amu's shoulder.

"Sorry about crashing into you. Again." he grinned.

Amu raised a hand for silence and shook her head. "Nah, it's not like you really hurt me." Amu said. She patted off the dust from her clothes. "Oh, and I'm not that special. I just told Tsukasa that I fight Forest Wolves." She looked at Kukai and raised an eyebrow at his toothy grin. "What?" she said. Kukai replied with a laugh, it was more of a guffaw really.

"Amu-chan, any kid who can battle Forest Wolves and make them sound like their no big deal is talented. Those beasts are hard to kill." Kukai explained, wiping a tear from his eye.

"I don't _kill _them. That's too mean. I just send them running." Amu corrected.

Kukai's eyes gleamed with amusement. "You just _chase_ them away? Dude, that's even harder than killing them! That is wicked!" he said. A little chime brought the both of them back to reality. Kukai looked at his watch, paled and then snatched Amu's arm. He nodded at Daichi and resumed his dash. "Dammit! The Sky Whale will be leaving any minute now!" he told her.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"Woah, just….woah.." Amu said.

She had never seen Sky Whales before. Amu had only seen pictures of them in books. She always knew the creatures were huge, but standing in front of one herself gave her a whole new definition of big. Towering over the taller buildings of the city was the biggest, most ginormous Sky Whale Amu ever saw. One flipper from the friendly giant made the town square of Heion look like a pimple. Its eyes were probably eleven feet tall and its mouth, its cave-like mouth, seemed big enough to swallow the whole of Whaleport. Amu felt small, really small.

She watched as kids around her age, maybe older, climbed up the outstretched tongue of the HSA Sky Whale as if it were a fleshy ramp. A small ticket booth stood at the tip of the tongue. "_That must be where we give our tickets_.." Amu thought. She turned around when she felt a hand pat her shoulder. Kukai chuckled and nodded to the Sky Whale's tongue. "No time for gaping, Amu-chan. We have to board. Now." he told the pinkette. Amu nodded and picked up her suitcase. She looked at her warrior and couldn't help but grin at him.

"This is it, Alex. We're on our way to HSA." Amu whispered.

"_Super! The Whale thing smells like clouds_." Alex chirruped.

"Huh. Probably because all they eat are clouds.." Amu said.

Amu shook her head. "No time to doddle. Gotta catch up with Kukai-kun." she told herself. She was quick to catch up to the boy. She took her place beside him and smiled at Daichi when the tiger rubbed against her leg. "You're so handsome.." she said, scratching the big cat's chin. Daichi let out a low rumble of appreciation.

After they handed their tickets, Kukai happily jogged up the ramp. "Ah, I miss this Sky Whale! Isn't it great….Amu…?" he turned around and found the pinkette glued at the base of the whale's tongue. Her gaze focused on the roof of the whale's mouth. It seemed so big. She felt a bit unsure about going into the whale's mouth. Kukai sighed, went back down, took Alex from Amu's shoulder, and plopped him on the back of Daichi.

Alex ruffled his fur up in alarm. He didn't like being separated from his partner. He relaxed, however, when Kukai gave him a wink. Alex was quick to understand. He nodded and made himself comfortable on the tiger's back.

Kukai slung his luggage to his back and walked down. He stopped in front of Amu and took her hands in his. He looked at her eye to eye and grinned. "Hey, there's nothing to worry about." he reassured. "Come on." Kukai gently pulled the pinkette. Amu complied and took a step forward. Kukai took a step backward. She took another step forward. Pretty soon, they were walking side by side up the Sky Whale's tongue. Amu dared to look up at the roof of the whale's mouth. Now that she looked at it again, it didn't really seem as scary as she first thought. She flashed Kukai a grateful look. "Thanks." she said. Kukai nodded and ruffled her hair a bit. She laughed and playfully swatted his hand away. "No problem. I was kind of nervous myself when I climbed up my first Sky Whale's tongue. It's not so bad once you get used to it." he said. "Now come on. We have to catch up with our warriors. They're probably in the stomach chamber."

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Amu was really amazed by the magic of mages. When Kukai told her that passengers rode in the stomachs of Sky Whales, she wasn't pleased. The pinkette didn't like the thought of staying in a whale's belly. When the duo reached the stomach, Amu was clearly impressed. Instead of gross muscles for walls and an acidic liquid for a floor, she was faced to face with a train station look-alike. The walls were covered with different colored tiles that formed beautiful mosaics, the floor reminded her of a high-class hotels and everywhere Amu looked she saw doors to different passenger cabins. There were probably more than fifty cabins on the three floors of the stomach chamber.

"How is this possible?" she gaped.

"Well, Sky Whales are pretty much hollow. The clouds they eat pass through their bodies and go out their blowhole once they've absorbed the moisture from it. Mages used spells to enchant the whales' stomach chambers and built a nice place for passengers to relax during the trip." Kukai proudly explained.

"But what about all the tumbles and turns the whales make while flying?" Amu said.

"Oh, the mages who started this Sky Whale business put a gravity charm on the chamber so that what happens outside doesn't affect what's going on inside." Kukai said.

Amu mouthed an "oh" and happily nodded. Kukai led her to a cabin on the second floor. Alex and Daichi were waiting for them when they both arrived. "Sorry for the wait." Kukai told the warriors. Daichi and Alex merely shrugged. Kukai opened the cabin door and ushered Amu inside. Amu looked around a bit at the cabin. It was no bigger than any other cabin in a train. It had two seats on either side of the wall and had a small place to put luggage in. She took a seat nearest to the window. When she looked out, she felt her heart skip a beat.

From her view of the large bay window, Amu could see nothing but the endless blue of the sky. All the shades of blue Amu could possibly imagine mingled perfectly in the vastness. Big puffy clouds floated around like big clumps of cotton. In that instant, Amu felt a flash of nostalgia go through her. She didn't know why, but she felt so at peace. She felt like she was meant to be out there or something. Amu felt the familiar touch of Alex's fur on her cheek. She turned to see her warrior staring out into the sky with the same feeling she had. His purple eyes were sparkling with fascination. His paws pressed against the glass of the window, his maw curved into a giddy smile. "_It's so pretty_…." he mewed. Alex locked gazes with Amu. She nodded her agreement and smiled in turn, turning back to admire the sky.

"I bet you're wondering how we can see the outside if we're in a whale's stomach!" Kukai suddenly said.

Amu snapped out of her dreamy state and turned to face Kukai. The boy threw his luggage bag next to him as he took his seat in front of her. "It's another charm mages placed. This time, they casted it on the windows so passengers can see outside." Kukai explained. Amu nodded slowly. She wasn't really interested in how she could see outside. "I see.." she said. Kukai seemed to have noticed the tone in Amu's voice.

"How about we explore the chamber, huh? Since we're already travelling in the sky, the walls have probably changed into windows." he said.

"R-really?" Amu's eyes glinted.

"Yup. You'll get a better view of the sky." Kukai winked.

Amu and Alex both shared big smiles as they eagerly nodded their approval. Kukai smiled and got up. "You can leave your stuff here. No one will steal them." Kukai added as he opened the door. Amu nodded and set aside her satchel. She looked at the staff her uncle had given her and thought a bit. "I'll just bring this along." she told Kukai. The boy nodded and headed out, his tiger following right behind him. Amu closed the door behind her when she got out. "_Amu! Amu! Look here! Look here_!" Alex's voice piped up. The pinkette turned around and gasped as she was faced to face with the sky again.

Aside from the cabins and the floors, everything was just the sky. Huge cumulus clouds floated overhead and shadowed her. She felt a nice cold breeze and inhaled a generous gulp of the air. It was refreshing. Alex did the same thing too, puffing up his cheeks like a chipmunk when he inhaled. "_So tasty_!" he chirruped. Amu hurried down the stairs to the ground floor where Kukai was waiting for her. He waved at her and put on a proud grin.

"Cool, isn't it?" he said.

"Totally. I can even smell the air!" Amu exclaimed.

"Yup, that's the power of air mages, huh?"

"Yeah."

Amu looked up at the ceiling, that was now a sky, and grinned when another cloud floated over her. After a while, she diverted her gaze back down. There were kids almost everywhere. They loitered around the huge chamber. Some were talking with each other, others went to a few snack stalls to buy some hot chocolate and some were just chilling out on the benches that were scattered around the chamber. The pinkette heard her stomach grumble when she saw a few students eat some cookies. She felt her face warm up when she saw the look on Kukai's face. He seemed as if he was really trying not to laugh at her. "Dude, your stomach's really demanding." he smiled. The boy nodded his head at one of the snack stalls. "Come on, I'll treat you to a sweet." Before she could protest, Kukai cut her short.

"And don't say no." he chimed.

Amu figured there was no point in resisting, so she just nodded and followed after him to the stall. While she did, her gaze wandered back up to the sky again. A small smile formed on her face. She really liked looking at the sky. She was so entranced by the sight, she failed to notice that she was wandering towards another direction and straight towards a girl. The girl also didn't seem to notice Amu, seeing as how she was busy sipping hot chocolate and reading a picture book about dresses. Before they collided, Alex turned his gaze from the sky to the girl and let out a warning mew to Amu.

The pinkette heard and tried to move out of the way, but she reacted too late. Both girls crashed into each other. Amu stumbled back a bit, managing to keep her balance this time. The girl, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. She fell flat on her butt and spilled her chocolate all over her expensive-looking blouse. Rage blazed in the red-head's silver eyes when she got up. She pointed an accusing finger at Amu. "How dare you ruin my blouse!" she boomed. "Don't you know who I am? I am Saaya Yamabuki, daughter of the Yamabuki company's head!" The red-head turned around and took a big gulp of air.

"Ladies!" she shouted.

Almost instantly, four girls rushed to Saaya's aid. "Saaya-sama! What happened to your darling outfit?!" a long-haired brunette cried. A girl with spiky purple took out a towel and a spare blouse from her bag. "Here, Saaya-sama!" she said. The other two girls took out a big curtain-like fabric from the brunette's bag and covered Saaya with it.

Amu just stared at the group of girls. They seem a bit odd, she thought. The pinkette listened as she heard a few rustling sounds from inside the fabric and looked impressed when Saaya came out wearing new blouse. The red-head tossed away the stained blouse and towel at the purple-haired girl. "I thank you, Yuka-chan." Saaya said. She turned her attention back to Amu and then scowled. "You no-good clutz, you better apologize to me!" Saaya demanded. The pinkette felt a bit intimidated by the red-head's menacing glare. When she spoke, she diverted her eyes away and lowered her voice a bit.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there." she muttered.

Apparently, her tone ticked Saaya off. It seemed to the red-head that Amu was actually just mocking her. Saaya wasn't happy. "You didn't _see_ me? How could you not see such beauty as this?" Saaya pointed to herself. "I'll teach you!" Without warning, Saaya pointed her finger at Amu and shot a fireball from her finger. The pinkette's instincts took over and she dodged just in time. The fireball crashed near a few kids and caused the whole chamber to go into an uproar. All the kids turned their eyes on the two girls. "H-hey! What'd you do that for?!" Amu protested. "I said sorry, didn't I?" Saaya pouted angrily and shot another fireball at the pinkette. "Not good enough!" the red-head shouted.

Amu ducked, avoiding the fireball, and tightened the grip on her staff. She swung behind Saaya's legs and lifted the red-head's feet up, causing Saaya to fall back to the ground. The pinkette leaped backwards, distancing herself from the girl. She saw kids look at her surprisedly. "_Uh-oh. Did I do something wrong_?" she thought.

"Cadentia! Get that girl!" Saaya's voice caught Amu's attention. She turned to see a ginger lioness charging at her. She looked at Alex and extended her right arm in front of her. "Intercept!" she told her warrior. The furry creature nodded and ran up Amu's arm. He leaped off and bashed his tiny horns on the lioness' head, promptly sending the big cat screeching back a few feet. Alex stood defensively in front of his partner and fluffed up his fur a bit, letting a small hiss-like growl escape his maw. The lioness growled at Alex, baring her sharp fangs at him. Cadentia readied to pounce on the little warrior but stopped when a big figure leaped in between them.

Daichi gave the lioness a challenging glare, narrowing his lime-green eyes in hostility. "_Stand down_…" the tiger growled. Cadentia let out a small growl in response, but relaxed her stance in response. Kukai hurried to Amu with a worried look on his face. "Geez, I turn my back for a moment, and you manage to crash into someone again?" he sighed, an amused grin on his face. "You okay?" Amu looked at herself a bit. She didn't feel any pain, she didn't see any scratches or burns. "Yeah, I'm okay." she finally replied.

Amu called for her warrior. Alex happily padded back to his partner and was lifted back to his perch on her shoulder. Amu glanced back at Saaya. The red-head was being helped up by her friends. "Or followers, more likely.." Amu muttered. Saaya called her lioness warrior to her and patted Cadentia on the head. She looked at Amu with annoyance. "Your runt of a warrior gave my poor Cadentia a bump on her gorgeous head!" Saaya cried. "I find this is absolutely outrageous!"

Kukai turned to Saaya, his smile vanishing in an instant. A somewhat threatening look sparked in his eyes. A frown formed on his face. "What's absolutely outrageous is that you tried to hurt a fellow apprentice over such a little matter, Saaya-san." he rebutted. Kukai walked up to the red-head till he was only a foot away from her. His voice was low and calm. "You know better than that." Saaya was at a momentary loss, struggling to find the rgith words.

"But that brat ruined my gorgeous blouse, and she didn't even apologize for…" Saaya started.

"Enough, Saaya-san." Kukai snapped. "You know better than to talk back to me." Saaya clamped her mouth shut, her silver gaze burning hatefully at the orange-head. With a few mutters, she turned around and stormed away with her warrior. "I won't forget this." she hissed at Amu. Her followers hurriedly trailed after her. Kukai looked around and cupped his mouth. "Alright folks, nothing to see here! Shoo, disperse or whatever!" he told the crowd. The kids eventually did disperse and resumed to what they were previously doing. Kukai observed the apprentices a bit more before he turned back to Amu. When he did, he gave her a playful flick on the forehead.

The pinkette let out a small yip of pain and gingerly rubbed the struck part of skin. "Ow! What was that for?" she demanded. The boy put on an annoyed smirk and cupped her face in his hands. He grabbed hold of her cheeks and pinched them. "Ow! Hey-ow!" Amu cried.

"Why do you keep bumping into people, huh?" Kukai chuckled. He released his grip on Amu's cheek and allowed her to tend to the rosy-red skin on her face. "You have got to stop that." Kukai warned. "Next time, you might even bump into a hibernating Grizzly Bear." Amu looked at Kukai and rubbed her cheeks a bit more before she replied. "I can't help it. I get distracted sometimes…" Amu muttered. She locked gazes with Kukai and showed him a glint of defiance in her eyes as she added, "But I certainly won't stumble into an Animent! I'm not _that_ clumsy."

"Well, tossing that thought for now, nice job tripping Saaya-san."

"Aren't you going to scold me for injuring a fellow apprentice?"

"Nah. That stuck-up brat deserved it. She's always like that. It gets on my nerves sometimes."

"So you know each other?" Amu asked.

"Heck, yeah. We're housemates." Kukai nodded.

Amu cocked her head a bit. "Housemates?" she repeated. Kukai nodded in response. He reached in his pockets and drew out a piece of parchment. He opened it up to show her five seals. "Yup. HSA is divided into five houses. You get put into a house depending on your Element Skill or your magic's natural element." Kukai said.

He pointed at the sky blue seal with a cloud-like bird on it. "If your element is air, you go to the Aeria House." Kukai moved his finger to the green seal with an Earth Stag on it. "If your element is Earth, you belong to the Terran House. If your element is fire, like me, you go to the Infernos House, that's this red seal with the Phoenix on it. If you're an apprentice of the Aquall House, your Element Skill is water."

Amu pointed at the fifth seal. This seal was a pitch-black color with only traces of white on it revealing a dragon with eerie eyes. "What about this house?" Amu inquired. Kukai let out a wistful "aah…" and immediately rolled up the parchment. He placed it back in his pocket before he answered her. "That's the seal of the Luminoir House. Apprentices of that house are the rarest kind of mages on the planet because their Element Skill is shadow. There are only a miniscule minority that are born Shadow Mages. There are even less animents that fall under that category." Kukai told her. "For the past ten years, HSA's only had thirty apprentices of the Luminoir house."

Amu nodded. Luminoir. The name kind of rang a bell. She felt as if she knew that name. The pinkette shook her head. No, it must've been her imagination. Amu hurried after Kukai. He had gone to buy her the sweet he promised. Nevertheless, the name Luminoir kept ringing in her head during the duration of the trip. Even as she sucked on her strawberry lollie, her mind pondered on any memory of which she might've heard the name. It was all for naught however.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

After some time, the Sky Whale finally reached the floating isle of Sanctium, location of HSA. The whale took a big gulp of air and pressed it down through its body. The air zoomed into the stomach chamber, causing a big flurry of wind to pass through the kids before getting sucked out through the blowhole. It was beginning its descent and prepared to dock.

"We're finally here!" a kid said.

"Get your bags, Hiro-kun!" another said.

Amu had heard the announcement and picked up her suitcase. With her warrior happily seated on her shoulder, the pinkette peaked out of her cabin. "Look at all of them crowd the tunnel." she told Kukai. Said boy popped his head out of the cabin and nodded his agreement. "Yup, happens every year. Let's just wait here till most of them are gone." Kukai said. The orange-head walked out of the cabin and sat himself on the hallway, letting his legs hang on the edge of the railing. Amu decided to do the same and sat next to him.

They both watched the kids push their way into the tunnel and disappear from sight. Because of all the fuss, it took quite a while for the students to actually leave the stomach chamber. Kukai had managed to yawn from boredom about six times before the chamber was almost empty. He got up and nodded to the tunnel. "Well, that's our cue for us to go Amu." he said. They made their way through the tunnel and down the tongue of the Sky Whale. As they did, Amu took in her first glimpse of Sanctium Town.

It was a quiet little town, almost like Heion really. There were a few inns here and there, not to mention a few cafés and mage stores. Few people walked around the streets, save the new apprentices that had just arrived. She looked down and saw a multitude of carriages with no coaches. She watched kids hurry into the carriages in little groups and watched as the carriages took off into the northern part of the town. "Are those HSA carriages?" she turned to Kukai. The boy merely nodded and jogged down the tongue ramp.

Amu felt Alex's soft paws poke her cheek. "Yes?" she said to her furry warrior. Alex gave the pinkette a wide grin. "_I smell mages_." he said. "_It's coming from there_." Alex pointed a paw north, where the carriages had gone to. A vast forest was what the furry creature was pointing at. "So the school's in there…" Amu muttered.

"Hey Amu! Hurry up!" Kukai's voice sounded from below. The pinkette rushed down the tongue ramp and caught up with the boy just in time. He was busy loading his bag in the carriage when she reached him. Daichi slinked his way into the carriage and took a nice spot on one of the seats. The tiger stuck his head out the window while waiting. Alex quickly followed in and leaped from Amu's shoulders. He padded up next to the tiger and patted the big cat on the back.

Daichi turned his head to the furry creature. "_Up_?" Daichi rumbled. Alex nodded his reply. The tiger gave a simple nod and went back to staring out the window. Alex let out a happy mew and climbed up the tiger's back, settling himself atop Daichi's head and admired the view as well. Amu smiled at the two. When she was seated, she leaned towards Kukai and whispered in his ear, "They get along well, don't they?" Kukai nodded and whispered back. "Like peanut butter and jelly." he said. Both kids laughed at that comment.

Amu looked out of her window and saw around five kids get into a carriage. "Hey Kukai, shouldn't we also accept more apprentices in the carriage?" she told Kukai. The boy shook his head in response.

"No need. We're not required to have a number of kids with us."

"But what if the carriages run out?"

"The others that left earlier will come back and pick the others up."

"Oh, okay then." Amu agreed.

"Besides, I don't want to share this carriage with anyone but you." Kukai cheekily added.

Amu felt a wave of embarrassment rush to her face. "H-hey." she stuttered. Kukai let out a chuckle and slumped on his seat. "I wouldn't want you to cause any more trouble." he grinned. With that comment, Kukai was rewarded with a flick on the nose. The boy's grin widened as he massaged his struck nose. "Okay, I admit I deserved that." Kukai said.

After that, the trip was more or less uneventful. All those in the carriage stared out of the carriage windows to admire the view of Sanctium. When the carriage drove into a forest road, Amu's face perked up. She poked her head out of the window and happily admired the tall trees of Seiyo Forest. There were exceptionally tall Sycamore and Sequoia growing about, Amu noted. When she heard the song of birds, the pinkette looked up. A huge flurry of the winged creatures were soaring over the land. She drew her head back in and tugged on Kukai's shirt.

"What's with all the birds?"

"Oh, them. They're the aerial sentries of HSA. They keep close watch over everything near the school grounds."

"Cool. What kind of birds are they?"

"They're not really birds. They're shadow birds, the products of Shadow Magic."

"Is that even possible?"

"Yes, but only if you're a master mage. Creating semi-conscious, intelligent creatures out of pure element takes skill and power. Making a bunch of them is even harder." Kukai said.

"Who made them, then?" Amu said.

"It was Luminoir, founder of Luminoir House and former owner of Sanctium Isle, who made them." Kukai answered. "When the other house founders, the four sages, were looking for a place to build HSA Luminoir offered her home to them and even gave them her huge castle to use for the school building. These birds were one of the many contributions she gave to HSA." Amu didn't even have to ask for details. Kukai had seemed to have read her mind and took the initiative to tell her them. Amu was impressed. This Luminoir person sounded not only powerful, but also rich if she could afford to own an island.

Amu simply nodded her thanks and stuck her head out again. The pinkette seemed to have caught the attention of some of the shadow birds, five of them swooped down to investigate the girl. When she saw the birds, Amu couldn't help but smile. They were so cute. She extended a finger to them and was delighted when the birds happily perched on. She stared at them happily and they, in turn, let out happy chirps. They seemed so happy to be with the pinkette. She turned to call Alex to check the cute birds out. "Hey Alex.." Amu started.

She needn't have called him. She saw how a couple of birds were perched on his tiny horns, letting out similarly happy chirps as well.

All the chirping caught Kukai's attention. He had dozed off a bit, hoping to catch a few z's, but was woken up from all the noise the birds were making. He was clearly surprised when he saw the birds perched on the two companions. He tapped Amu's shoulder. "Odd. Those birds _never_ interact with newbies that way. I was told that they were only nice to the founders of the school, especially Luminoir." Kukai smiled. "Maybe you're a descendant of one of the founders? Well, except Luminoir of course. She never married."

Amu shook her head. "I wouldn't know. I was never told by my uncle." she said. The pinkette kissed the shadow birds on the head before she let them fly off. She slumped back on her seat and observed that the birds had left her warrior as well. "However, I do have a way with animents." Amu added happily.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"I can't believe we're finally here, Alex!" Amu said.

Once the carriage had cleared the forest, all that was left to do was to get past the stone walls of the school. Amu grabbed her warrior and both stuck their heads out to take in the entire splendor of their new home. A magnificent castle unraveled before them, boasting off its tall towers and its regal walls of dragon stone. The grounds were glittered with probably the greenest grass Amu ever saw. Tall willow trees were spread across the grounds, the gentle scent of mingling flowers soothed her sense of smell and the sight of the apprentices and their warriors with them got Amu all pumped up. Finally, the carriage came to a halt.

"It's so cool." she told Kukai. The boy laughed and nodded in reply, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "If you think this is great, wait till you taste the food! It's awesome." he chuckled, smacking his lips in satisfaction. Amu grabbed her things, tightened the grip on her staff, and swung the carriage door open. "I can't wait to go in the ca…..Ahh!" Amu barely took a step outside she was faced to face with a skeleton. She let out a muted squeak and tumbled back into the carriage. She knocked down Kukai in the process and ended up sitting on top of him.

"Oops. Sorry." Amu said.

"No, it's okay. I'm getting used to it now." Kukai groaned.

Amu helped the boy up and put on a nervous smile. "I, uh, got surprised." she admitted. Kukai gave her a sly grin. "Let me guess, you saw a skeleton?" he said. Amu nodded.

Kukai got out of the carriage and gave his bag to the skeleton. "They're the groundskeepers of this school. They clean the castle, water the plants, feed the school animents..You know, menial labor." he explained. "Thanks." Kukai patted the little skeleton on the head. It nodded its head in response. "Go ahead and give it your things. You can trust these little guys. They're as loyal and faithful as the mage who made them." Amu reluctantly gave the skeleton her bags and did even more so with her staff.

But it was then she noticed the skeleton's face. It seemed to be smiling at her, if that was possible. With a nod the skeleton hobbled off with the stuff, disappearing into the castle. "You know, the skeleton's actually kind of cute." Amu thought aloud. Alex nodded his agreement.

"Cute, huh? If you say so." Kukai shrugged. He particularly didn't like skeletons, but whatever. He slung his arm over Amu's shoulder and ushered her towards the castle. "Now, let's go. The welcoming ceremony will be starting any minute now." he said.

Amu couldn't really fight back. Well, she didn't want to fight back Kukai's action anyway. Instead she just admired the tall pillars near the castle's main doors. They were so clean. She turned her attention to the kids wandering inside. They were all wearing uniformed robes of some kind. Some were wearing robes with red, others had blue, some had green.

"I wonder which robe I'll wear?"

* * *

And that's chapter 2. How was it? I hope it was okay. I would ever so appreciate rates and reviews, especially the review part. I will update faster now, because I'm expecting my netbook to be delivered any day now. I won't have to go to my cousin's to use the computer. Thank goodness for that.

Until the next chapter, see you readers later!


	4. Chapter 3

Here's Chapter 3! I have no excuse for this late update. I just really was uninspired to continue. I mean, I even thought about dropping the story. But no! I pushed myself and looked for inspiration. If this chapter seems lacking, well, at least you know the reason why. Romantic scenes will occur in the next chapter. (Finally!) So anyway, please review my chapter. Your reviews are what keeps me going. Till next time!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of its canon characters.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Anyway, these big stairs here lead to the classrooms. Though apprentices have the same subjects to study, there are certain details in each subject that are only for a specific element." Kukai said.

Amu nodded. "So apprentices only study with their housemates? Because they learn things only their house can learn?" she repeated. Kukai nodded his response. "Yup! The only time you'll be seeing different houses mingling with each other is during free period, meals, and during Monster Coliseum." he added. "That's a popular Mage sport we hold here."

The pinkette had a lot of time to kill when she and Kukai had arrived in HSA. To keep it entertaining, Kukai decided to give her a quick briefing on the castle. So far, he'd already told her about the Sick Bay, the House Towers, and the classrooms. Amu was only half-listening to his explanation. She had felt a wave of nostalgia go through her again when she entered the castle. She couldn't explain it, but she felt at home in this new place.

"Good morning, Kukai-san. How's your vacation been?" A student suddenly greeted.

"It's great you're back, Kukai-san." another one said.

"Hey, you're not late this time, Kukai-sama. Good for you." a boy laughed, patting Kukai on the back before walking away.

Amu struggled to stay by Kukai's side, on the count of being constantly pushed away by his many admirers. Alex himself had to cling tighter on her shoulder just to keep from being knocked off. "_This is just like WhalePort._" Alex snuffed. The pinkette was getting pushed farther away from the orange-head. No matter how hard she tried, she kept getting pushed away. She would've been pushed right out the castle if it weren't for Kukai grabbing her hand. He had weaved through the apprentices that were greeting him and held a tight grip on her wrist. "Phew, almost lost you there." he grinned at her. With a tug, he pulled Amu to his chest and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Alright, you guys, make way. I've gotta escort a friend of mine to where the other newbies are." Kukai told the crowd. The apprentices instantly made a path to the Mess Hall. A few of them were whispering slyly about Amu. One dared to say it out loud. "Kukai-san, I never knew you were such a protective boyfriend." A boy chuckled. The rest of the apprentices joined in with hushed snickers and laughs. Kukai smiled at the boy and rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, Yamada-kun. Very funny." Kukai sighed. "For your info, this lady right here is my friend. Just a friend."

Amu could tell the apprentices doubted his words, but respectfully nodded and dispersed. "They're so nice to you." she finally said, her eyes darting to Kukai. "How come?" Kukai winked at her and put a finger to his lips. "I'll tell ya later. Besides, it's almost time for the sorting ceremony." he quickly said. "Just go to that group of kids wearing no robes. They're new, just like you. I'll see you later, 'kay?" Kukai conjured up a fireball from his hand and threw it at himself. The ball weaved around his body and with a poof, turned into a red robe. "See ya!" he said, walking into the Mess Hall with his goofy smile on his face.

Amu looked at the group of "newbies" with a wary eye. Even as early as now, the kids were already forming into social groups. The pinkette wasn't too fond of socializing with so many strangers. She was shy, though she'd never admit it. Amu took her warrior in her arms and hugged him gently. "Let's just stay near the edge." she told him. Alex happily nodded. He didn't mind not socializing with the other warriors. Though he was more open to make friends than his partner, Alex would never leave Amu for anyone. He rubbed his cheek against her arm and purred at her comfortingly.

"_Do you think we'll see any warrior that's like me? All I see are dogs and birds and cats and lizards and stuff._" Alex mewed.

"Maybe. On that note, what animent are you anyway?" Amu had never wondered about her warrior's species until now. Alex wagged his furry, lizard-like tail and grinned at her. "I'm an Alex!" he chirruped. Amu laughed and patted his head softly. "Okay, I get it." she giggled. So her warrior didn't know his species either. It wasn't that important to either of them anyway. Admittedly, however, Amu couldn't help but wonder whether he was a dog, a cat, or a furry lizard. Alex showed the traits of all these animents. He barked and growled like a dog, he'd hiss and purr like a cat would and his tongue was forked like a snake's.

He was like a rabbit as well, on the count of his long ears. The most perplexing feature he had were his tiny antlers. They were like an Earth Stag's, but their shape was more like a dragon's. It was so confusing. What was Alex? Amu shook her head. It was starting to ache from all the thinking. "Gotta get that thought out of my mind. It's not important." she told herself.

She felt something bump into her. Amu turned and saw that one of the newbies had tripped and fell to the floor, hitting Amu in the process. The girl met Amu's eyes, quickly got up and dipped her head in apology. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to crash into you." Amu raised an eyebrow at the girl. Why was she apologizing? She herself knew that it was an accident. "Watch where you trip next time." Amu said, her voice sounding cold and sharp. The girl let out a frightened squeak and hurriedly ran back to a group of other newbies.

"She's so cool.." she heard the girl tell her friends. Amu let out a sigh. Great, she messed up again. Perhaps she should just distance herself from the group some more. The pinkette took a few steps back and, again, bumped into someone. This time, she hit the person with her head. "Ow!" she gasped. Yet again, she bumped into someone. "_If Kukai saw me now, he'd scold me_." Amu whirled around to meet the latter she had bumped into. At that moment, her heart skipped a beat.

The kid she'd bumped into was probably the prettiest boy she'd ever seen. With long blonde bangs, his fair complexion and his girlish face, the boy could've out-shined any female model. He had a confident posture, a slim build, and eyes that shone like rubies. "_More like mahogany-red…_" she added in her head.

The boy straightened himself up and turned to her, a worried look on his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't see…you..there.." he came to a halt when their eyes met. Honey-gold met mahogany and for a moment, probably the longest moment Amu ever had, they both just stood there looking at each other. There was that flash of nostalgia again. No, it was more like déjà vu. The boy seemed familiar to her. Had they met before? Judging by the look on his face, he seemed to be thinking the same thing. Amu couldn't find any words to say. They were locked in a stare.

"_Tadase-kun, come on. You're needed at the Royal Garden._" a voice brought them both to reality. Amu looked down and saw a young lion sitting by the boy's feet. He had a very proud posture and raised his chin up to look important. His golden pelt was topped off with a purple mane that hung right above his chest. The lion stared at her quite boringly. "_You shouldn't mingle with commoners_." The lion sniffed. Amu felt a bit insulted. Her warrior was even more so. Alex puffed up his fur and narrowed his eyes into slits as he glared at the lion.

The boy, Tadase as the lion called him, slowly nodded at him and walked away. He looked back one more time and nodded his head at Amu. "Sorry again." he said. Amu and Alex watched as the duo walked into the Mess Hall.

Alex let out an angry snort once they had gone. "_I don't like that cat one bit_!_ He's got no right to insult you_." the warrior mewed. Amu sighed, agreeing with her warrior, and patted him on his head. "No need to puff out. He didn't really hurt me." Amu reassured. She ran her fingers through her warrior's fur. Alex eventually calmed down and let his fur lie flat. "_I still don't like him_.." he added quickly. "_Who was that boy you bumped into_?"

The girl who Amu bumped into answered. She shyly walked towards them and said, "That's Tadase Hotari. He's our Headmaster's son and he's known as the school's prince." The girl let out a small swoon. "He's one of the most popular guys here." Amu nodded. She was a bit surprised to know his relationship to Tsukasa. So he had a son, she thought. "Thank you…um.."

"It's Minami. I'm sorry again about bumping into you.." Minami muttered. Amu nodded and smiled at her. "It's no big deal. Thanks again." she told the girl. Minami let out a nervous giggle and walked back to her group. "Bye." Amu said.

"Hello newbies!" a voice suddenly boomed.

All heads turned to the man who had called them. Standing in the doorway of the Mess Hall was a young man dressed in a tidy black suit with a gray necktie. His brown-orange hair reached to his shoulder in a messy bed-head way. He wore a pair of glasses that brightened up his blue-green eyes. The most notable thing about him, however, was his annoying grin. "Hello! I'm Yuu Nikaido and I'm-ah!" the man wasn't able to finish his sentence. He took a step forward and tripped, falling face-first to the floor. The kids immediately erupted with laughter. Amu, on the other hand, kept quiet and kind of felt sorry for the guy. Nikaido scrabbled around for his glasses and got up after finding them. He put them on, patted dust from his suit and cleared his throat. "Sorry about that minna!" Nikaido said in a sing-song tone. "Any who, I'm Yuu Nikaido. You lot can call me Nikaido-sensei. I'm here to lead you to the sorting ceremony!"

Amu obediently followed his instructions as he asked all the newcomers to form six straight lines. "And remember," he told them. "each lines must have only twelve students in them." After Amu had settled in her line, Nikaido did a little head-count. He pointed quickly at each apprentice while he silently counted the number of them present. "Okay, all of you are here! Let's go!" he grinned. Nikaido turned towards the Mess Hall and did a funny march up to the door. Amu found his eccentricity to be quite amusing.

"_W-wait for me, desu_!" a tiny voice cried.

Amu looked behind her and ducked quickly as a whirling ball of shadow sped past her head. One unlucky apprentice failed to see the ball coming and collided with it. "Ouch." Amu groaned. That must've hurt. With a squeak and a squeal, the ball tumbled from the air. "_Nikaido-san_!" the ball cried. The professor turned to see who was calling and happily caught the ball of light with his hand in one swipe. "Ah, Suu-chan! You're late." he smiled.

The ball of shadow, now in his palm, popped and revealed a cute little fairy. Her curly blonde hair that was kept neatly by her little white head-dress had come a bit loose and now poked out in all the wrong places. Her little maid uniform was all dusty and ruffled, not to mention that she had a small scratch on her face and that her clear butterfly wings were a bit bent. But despite that, her emerald-green eyes still had a happy gleam in them. "_Sorry, desu_! _Suu-chan was busy watching the clouds float by, desu_!" the little fairy said. "_Suu-chan even saw one that looked like a bunny, desu_!" Nikaido's grin widened when he heard about the bunny bit.

Amu watched as he began babbling about some cloud interpretations and some other air junk. She sensed that the man had no intention of stopping his little lecture. She had to cut this short. "Nikaido-sensei, is that little light fairy your warrior?" Amu spoke up. Nikaido's attention turned to her. He smiled and chuckled a bit. "Ah, a warrior Suu-chan is, but fairy of light? No she is not." Nikaido sang. "She is a dark fairy, obviously."

The pinkette's eyes locked on the little fairy now resting on Nikaido's shoulder. She did not look like a dark fairy at all! How could such bright happiness be dark? And yet, Amu could tell that Nikaido was serious about his answer.

"That reminds me," Nikaido suddenly gasped. "Who are you?"

"I'm Amu Hinamori, sir." Amu replied.

"Oh, nice to meet you Himamori-san!"

"_Himamori_?" Amu thought. She shook her head. "No, sensei. It's 'Hinamori', not 'Himamori'." She explained. Nikaido's mouthed formed an "oh" and nodded happily. "I got it, Himamori-san!" he laughed. Amu felt a vein twitch. Was this man deaf? She opened her mouth to correct the man, but changed her mind in the end. "_He'd probably just say my name all wrong again….._" she sighed.

Nikaido nodded and marched up to the door, giving it a surprisingly strong push. The big wooden doors swung wide open and slammed into the walls. The apprentices already present in the Mess Hall turned their attention to the grinning man at the doorway. "Hi, minna-san!" Nikaido waved at them. "Presenting, our newbies of this school term!" Amu followed her line into the Mess Hall. Her eyes scanned the ceiling to find that it only had a clear blue sky. It was enchanted, she decided. She looked to her sides to see five tables. One table held apprentices wearing sky blue robes. "The Aeria apprentices.." she muttered. A table next to it held red-robed Infernos apprentices. Among them, Kukai waved at her. Amu smiled and waved back. She also noted that each table had a tall flag floating over it, bearing each House's symbol.

"Waah!" Nikaido's voice cried.

The lines came to an abrupt halt, followed by the deafening laughs of the apprentices in the Mess Hall. Amu strained to see what was going on, and sighed when she found out. Apparently, Nikaido had tripped again and crashed onto the floor. Was that man clumsy or what? "_Kuku….He's just like you, Amu_." Alex sniggered. Amu felt her face light up. So she was clumsy too. At least she didn't hit the floor with her face. "S-shut up." she snapped. Her warrior merely chuckled.

Nikaido quickly stood up and straightened himself. Suu was busy tightening his necktie and patting his hair down. "_Oh, dear desu_." Amu heard the fairy say. "_Why do you keep tripping_?" Nikaido merely smiled and looked at a long, marble table at the far end of the Mess Hall. There, Amu had recognized, Tsukasa sat. She could tell by his expression that he was snickering along with the apprentices. She was quick to find Hikaze. The huge lion lay beside the headmaster's feet, watching the hullabaloo the eccentric professor was making. He shook his head in disapproval.

Nikaido dipped his head. "Sorry 'bout that, Tsukasa-san!" he cupped his hands to his mouth to make his voice louder. "Anyway, I've brought the newbies!" Tsukasa nodded and stood up. He imitated Nikaido and cupped his hands as well. "Good, good. Come sit with me and the other professors!" he said merrily. Nikaido hurriedly jogged up to the marble table, nearly tripping twice as he did so. It was only after he was seated did Tsukasa speak.

"Welcome, all of you! To our returning apprentices, and to the new faces that stand before me today!" his voice echoed throughout the Mess Hall. Everyone quieted down. All eyes turned to the blond man in the white tuxedo. "It is so great to see so many apprentices worthy of attending HSA! On behalf of our family here, I congratulate you. I am Tsukasa Hotari, headmaster of this fine institution. As I'm sure you all know, every mage in this world belongs to a certain category: Fire, Air, Water, Earth and, of course, Shadow. To make sure each of you unlocks your full potential in your natural magic, we will begin your year with the Sorting Ceremony. In this ceremony we will find out which element your magic belongs to and put you in your respective houses." he said, his purple gaze unwavering as he stared at the new apprentices.

He snapped his fingers. In an instant, five purple flames erupted in front of the marble table. The new apprentices flinched at the sudden burst. Amu merely marveled at such power. "Woah." she said. Tsukasa snapped his fingers again and the flames died down to reveal five, huge, golden bowls. "Housemasters, if you may." he nodded at the professors. Five professors, Nikaido included, stood up and walked up to the bowls. Each professor picked a bowl to stand by.

"Fire." Tsukasa barked.

Each professor pointed at their bowl and shot out a huge blast of energy. The bowls glowed in response and captured the blasts. Now suspended in the bowls were five elements: a ball of fire, a glob of clear water, a small tornado, a budding plant, and a misty ball of haze. Nikaido smiled proudly at the hazy ball. "Huh, he's a Shadow Mage." Amu said nonchalantly. She watched the professors return to their seats then looked back at Tsukasa.

"Now before you are five element testers. When I call your name, you will walk up to each bowl and try to touch them. If an element surrounds you, it means that your element is that. If it responds in any other way, it means that is not your element." Tsukasa explained. "Simple, huh?"

He clapped his hands and a scroll appeared in a ball of purple fire. He cleared his throat, his eyes scanning the first name. "Minami Hazume!" he declared. Amu watched as the apprentice she had talked to walk up to the bowls. She moved to the ball of fire first and reached to touch it. The ball immediately shriveled and crumbled into hot cinders. A few disappointed groans sounded from the Infernos table. After failing at the glob of water and the ball of haze, Minami went to the little tornado. The moment her hands touched it, the tornado jumped out and spun around her. Then it jumped at her and transformed into a sky blue robe with silver edging.

Cheers erupted from the Aeria table. Minami smiled and looked to Tsukasa expectantly. The headmaster chuckled and waved his hands to the Aeria table. "Well my dear, don't just stand there, go join your housemates." he said. The girl nodded and eagerly went to take a seat in her new table. Amu saw how excited she was. She couldn't wait for her turn.

Alas, her wait took longer than expected. In fact, when her name was finally called, there were only three other apprentices left.

"Amu Hinamori!" Tsukasa called. The pinkette locked gazes with the headmaster and grinned when he smiled at her. She took a step forward, paused, flashed Alex a nervous smile, and proceeded to the bowls. She went up to the tornado first. She leaned in to touch it, but it disappeared with a puff before she even made contact. Huh, air wasn't her element. She went over to the ball of fire and stuck her hand right in. She felt the warmth of the fire hold her arm softly, almost like a gentle hug, before it slithered back to its container.

A few disappointed murmurs sounded from the Infernos table. She looked back to see Kukai give a defeated shrug. He was hoping she'd be his housemate. When she looked a bit more, she saw a very pleased-looking Saaya in her Infernos robe, smirking proudly at the failure. Amu huffed and turned around. She walked up to the glob of water. When her hand touched the cool surface of the water, it let out an angry, almost infuriated, hiss and evaporated into hot steam.

"Water doesn't seem to even like her." She heard an Aquall apprentice murmur.

Now she had only two elements left. She turned for the little plant. However, when she passed by the golden bowl carrying the hazy shadow ball, it reacted instantaneously. The ball rocketed out of its container and flung itself towards the pinkette. Amu turned and nearly stumbled backwards as the hazy ball nearly collided with her face. It stopped in front of her and harmlessly floated mid-air.

Everything stood still for a moment. Her eyes focused on the ball in front of her. It was so close. She felt her heart beat faster, her lungs were burning. She exhaled loudly. She wasn't aware that she was holding her breath. Slowly, cautiously, she stretched out her hand to the ball. A metallic ring sounded when her finger touched the hazy ball. It slowly spread up her arm and wrapped around her body. Then, with another metallic ring, it transformed into a silver robe with black edging. The whole Mess Hall went quiet. When she checked, she found all apprentices gawking at her. Had she done something wrong? She started to feel uneasy. Perhaps she broke some kind of rule of some sort? But her fears subsided when Tsukasa clapped his hands together.

"Ah, a Shadow apprentice! How lucky a year this is! Dear apprentices of Luminoir House, it appears you finally have a new sister to your family!" Tsukasa smiled.

Amu turned to the table behind her. Among the five tables, it was the Luminior table that stood in the middle of the room. Now that she had a chance to really look at it, it was quite far from any of the other tables. She turned to her new housemates. How surprising! She could count all her new family with only her two hands. They looked at her quite cheerfully and finally let out whoops and cheers.

"Welcome to the family, Hinamori-san!" a girl congratulated.

"Ah, finally! I thought I'd graduate before seeing a new member!" a boy chuckled.

Amu waved back and looked around. Apart from Tsukasa, and her housemates, everyone else just sat there and stared at her. A few kids from the Aquall table gave her dark looks. Amu shot her warrior a worried look. Alex merely rubbed against her cheek and purred. "_You're doing fine_." he mewed.

She took her seat next to one of her housemates and placed her warrior next to her. "_Speaking of warriors…_." Amu looked at her housemate's warriors. Some of them had shadow foxes, a few had dark fairies. The one she was sitting next to had a Black Bear for a warrior. It looked at her for a moment and let out a friendly chuff. She nodded in return. When the last apprentice was sorted into his house, Tsukasa conjured up five purple flames and blew them to the tables. Each flame flew to a table and popped into an array of delicious food. Amu gaped at the feast before her. She had never seen so much food in all her life! "And now my apprentices, dig in!" Tsukasa smiled. Noise broke the silence in the Mess Hall. All tension and suspicion vanished in the air. Kind words and food were shared between housemates. Some apprentices shared summer memories with one another, others talked about new spells they had learned over the break.

Amu noticed that the Luminoir table was especially open. Everyone in the table joked with each other, squabbled over pieces of cake and pie and just seemed really close. If she didn't know any better she'd have mistaken them as real family members. She smiled at their funny antics. One boy from the Luminoir House noticed how quiet she was. He scooted next to her and handed her a plate with a small piece of strawberry tart on it.

"Here you go! I sneaked you a piece of this tart." he smiled. "It's very hard to get a piece, seeing as how everyone else wants a bite of this." The pinkette nodded and took the plate from him, biting into the good-looking dessert. "O-oishii!" she exclaimed. _No wonder everyone wanted a bite of this tart. It was delicious_. "_Even Shuu would like this_!" she thought, and Shuu was a very picky eater. She caught the boy smiling at her. "W-what? Is it something on my face?" she stuttered. The boy shook his head.

"You just seemed a bit down is all. I can't have the newest member of the Luminoir family all frowny."

"I was just nervous. I mean, everyone was giving me a weird look. The Aquall apprentices seemed angry at me."

"Oh, don't mind those steam-heads. They've never like us Luminoir apprentices. Our houses haven't been on good terms for decades."

"B-but what about that thing with the shadow ball?" Amu fretted.

"Another reason why the Aquall's don't like us Luminoirs: our elemental power range is on another level compared to theirs. They always want to be the best." the boy shrugged.

The pinkette felt relieved. At least it wasn't her fault entirely. "By the way," Amu realized. "I didn't catch your name." The boy's eyes widened in surprise. He was silent for a bit then he laughed. "Oops. How rude of me." He brushed back a few of his faded crimson bangs aside and dipped his head. "My name's Fuyuki Kirishima. I'm the Big Brother of Luminoir House. Oh, that's just our term for prefect." He winked at her playfully.

"If you have a problem, don't hesitate to ask me. I'd be happy to assist." She smiled and nodded her thanks. She liked Fuyuki. He was like Kukai, only less goofy. Amu turned her attention back to her slice of tart. _Come to me, you rare delicacy_. And without further ado, she gobbled up the tart. Alex didn't mind missing out on the tart, he was too busy munching down on a plate of brownies he spotted. "_Chocolate_!" he purred. He picked another piece of the desert and stuffed it in his mouth.

Amu's meal time with her new family flew by quickly. The plates that had filled the table with food and fruit now carriednothing but scraps and bones and wrappers. The Luminoir apprentices lay back on their seats quite contentedly. One of them let out a loud belch. Amu laughed with the rest of her housemates. "Phew, Taka-kun! What combination of food did you eat?! That was nasty!" a girl said disdainfully. She waved her hand in an attempt to shoo the stink away.

Amu snickered at her housemates' quarrel. "You remind me of this old couple back in my hometown." she said lightly. Both apprentices stopped on that note and looked at each other for a bit, then recoiled at the very thought of it. "Yuck, like hell I'd marry Sulu-chan." Taka groaned. Sulu nodded her silent agreement. "But you go with each other all the time. And don't use that childhood friend bit. Everyone knows you both like each other." Fuyuki added coyly. The rest of the Luminoir apprentices chuckled their agreements.

It wasn't before long the other houses finished eating. Among them, the Aquall group had the cleanest table. As Amu had seen, all their plates were neatly piled, all their scraps and leftovers were gathered together and all the apprentices looked as if they hadn't touched the food at all, what with being so clean and such. "Neat-freaks….." she decided bluntly. Tsukasa stood up from his own seat and clapped his hands together. Just like that, the scraps and plates vanished in a flash of purple fire. Some newbies flinched. They had no idea that the fire wouldn't hurt them. _Could you blame them_? Amu observed her house's table. It really was clean. _Not a crumb in sight._ She placed her head on the table just to make sure. _Yup, no crumbs_. The Big Brothers and Sisters of the houses began to round their family up.

"Aeria, let's go! Our nest awaits us!" the Big Brother of the Aeria shouted.

"Come. We must rest and be refreshed for tomorrow's classes." Aquall's Big Sister said.

"Let's all head back to our hollow. I believe we all need some sleep." Terran's Big Brother said.

"Come on, Infernos! Let's head back to our comfy den!" a certain orange head laughed.

That last voice was the one that caught her attention. _So that's why all the apprentices were so nice to him_. Amu had never guessed Kukai was a prefect. His outgoing, rebellious demeanor really didn't make him seem suitable. But Amu, with acceptance at the thought, was wrong. Kukai handled his housemates easily. She watched the groups exit the Mess Hall in a flurry of crisscrossing chitchat. It wasn't until their house was all alone did Fuyuki get up from his seat. He did a bit of stretching, let out a silent yawn, and then turned to his housemates. "Guess that's the signal. Let's go home." he told everyone. Amu picked up Alex and placed him on her shoulder. Just as she was about to follow, she heard her name be called.

"Amu-san."

She turned around, her eyes locking with those familiar purple ones of Tsukasa. "Fuyuki-kun, I do hope I can borrow your new sister for a bit." the headmaster smiled. Fuyuki seemed a bit hesitant at first. He was kind of excited to bring the newest family member home, but he knew better and nodded gaily. The headmaster smiled and looked at Amu, waving for her to come to him. She was quick to reach him, nearly sprinting across the floor as she did. Tsukasa welcomed her with open arms and led her out of the Mess Hall. "Now I know you're excited to see your new home and all, but I just had to talk to you." Tsukasa said.

"What's wrong, Tsukasa-san?"

"Oh, dear, nothing's wrong. Everything's fine. Great, even. It's just great."

"Because?" Amu pushed.

Tsukasa laughed a bit. "After all these years handling this Academy, I must say I did a good job. I would never have been able to have done so well, however, if it weren't for my dedicated helpers: the Guardians." he started. "The Guardians are HSA's student council, as well as my confidants in academic matters. I can't pick just any apprentices willy-nilly to fill their positions. I am told who gets which position through dream interpretations. Last night, I had a dream of being in the darkness. Everything was hazy and gloomy. Then suddenly, a thin ray of light sliced through the darkness and revealed the silhouettes of the Guardians to me."

The headmaster walked up the grand stairs slowly while he spoke, his trusty warrior padding right beside him. Amu listened carefully. "Only this time, there were five silhouettes instead of four. The new silhouette, I couldn't identify who it was at the time, stood tall in the middle of the group and seemingly reached a hand out to me. It was in that moment that a beam of light shot out of her hands. The shadows around me responded to the light and shifted towards it. Pretty soon I was in a room of light, not darkness anymore. The silhouette smiled at me and then headed off into the distance. The Guardians followed her." Tsukasa continued.

He led her through a long corridor that was filled with magnificent paintings of mages and animents. Amu couldn't help but marvel at such masterpieces, but she had to pay attention and so she shook her head and followed the headmaster to a large wooden door. Tsukasa stopped in front of it and leaned in to whisper a few words. The door creaked open in an instant and Tsukasa walked right in. "Come." was all he said.

She took her first steps into the cavernous chamber and could only gawk at its magnificence. Despite being inside a castle, this chamber was practically brimming with plant life. There were were potted plants and hanging flowers everywhere, the floor was like the grimblestone pavement of a garden, a small creek flowed through canals that snaked through the room and the room smelled of life, pure, untouched plant life. Amu looked around to see that the walls were replaced with ceiling high glass walls. The ceiling itself was not a ceiling, but open rafters served as a hanging spot for some more plants. She could feel a cool breeze come from the outside the outside. _Mages, I love them_.

She followed Tsukasa down a small pathway. It led them both to what looked like a tea table. It stood tall on a slightly elevated block of grimblestone that had steps to reach it. A little roof shaded the table from the sunlight that seemingly came from the ceiling. Amu noticed that there were four people seated at the table. And indeed, they were having tea. _As to be expected_. She took a small sniff and found that it was White Peony Tea. Yes, Amu knew her teas. Shuu had always insisted that she'd drink tea everytime she ate his sweets.

"Guardians, I'm terribly sorry you had to miss the sorting ceremony." Tsukasa told the kids.

It was then that the apprentices took notice of the four of them. Amu felt an air of prominence in them. They were dispelling waves of importance and intimidation to her. _Their mere presence was impressive_. It made her feel small. One Guardian took notice of Amu and smiled at her, her white teeth gleaming brightly. "Hey, hey! Who's this? Yaya wants to know!" the girl asked. She twirled her brown hair around and eyed her curiously. "She looks pretty!" the brunette giggled.

A petite blond rolled her eyes at the brunette called Yaya and nodded at Tsukasa. "Do tell us, Tsukasa-san, why did we have to skip the ceremony?" her voice was nonchalant. The headmaster acknowledged both questions with a gentle smile. "The answer to both questions is right here before you. This is Amu Hinamori, a new Luminoir apprentice and also your new Joker." he said. Amu saw the eyes of the blonde and Yaya widen. While Yaya responded with an ear-to-ear grin at the news, the blonde's mouth curved into an unsatisfied frown. "I see…" the blonde muttered darkly. She looked at Amu for a bit, bowing her head towards her afterwards. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rima Mashiro. I _happily_ welcome you."

Amu's brain couldn't comprehend what was happening. Joker? What was a Joker? Why was Tsukasa making her a Joker?

The headmaster, however, didn't seem to mind her confusion and just chuckled. "Anyway Amu," he said, turning his gaze to her. "I have to be going now. I've got many things to do. You know, since I'm the Headmaster. I leave you in the Guardians' capable hands. They'll tell you what you need to know." He patted her head then walked out of the chamber, his lion padding behind him.

"So," Rima's voice called her attention.

She turned around to see the blond walk towards her. Rima circled her, her brown gaze studying every inch of her. Alex didn't like what Rima was doing either and puffed his fur up a bit. After a minute or two, the blond withdrew and sighed. "I don't see why he chose _you_ to be our Joker. I don't anything special about you…" Amu frowned at the comment. _You're not exactly a phoenix either_. The pinkette did her best to not look intimidated. She kept eye contact with the blonde. "I don't really know what you're talking about. What's a Joker?" the pinkette said.

"I can answer that."

She looked to the table and saw a young boy with long, purple hair put down his tea cup. "Nice to meet you. I'm Nagihiko Fujisaki. I see you've met our Queen, Rima Mashiro. The little ball of energy next to me is Yaya Yuiki. She's our Ace. I am the Jack. 'Joker' is your new position here in our student council." he smiled.

"The Joker is a special member of the Guardians. Unlike the rest of the Guardians, and apprentices for that matter, the Joker is the only person who is given mage missions by the headmaster. It's not exactly big missions like the official mages in the world, but they're missions nonetheless. She decides which mission the Guardians will take. The reason why the Joker is given such a privilege, I'm not so sure." Nagihiko shrugged. Yaya gobbled up a small biscuit and gulped a sip of tea. "The best part of being the Joker-san, is that you don't do any paperwork!" Yaya interjected. "Lucky you!"

"Er.." Amu was at a loss for words. She didn't know how to react to all this.

"Nagihiko-san, I think you're overwhelming Hinamori-san." A voice chuckled. Amu recognized that voice. It was him! The boy she had bumped into before the ceremony. He had been unnoticed by her until he spoke, which she found quite ironic, seeing as how she couldn't stop staring at him now. _How could a boy look so beautiful_?!

Tadase, as she recalled his name, got up from his seat and walked up to her. He smiled at Rima and nodded his head at the table. Rima hesitated, and then turned back for the table. "You don't have to worry about that for now." Tadase smiled. "Right now, just enjoy some tea with me and the Guardians. Hmm?" He extended his hand to her. Amu slowly placed her hand in his and felt his fingers gently close around her own. "Great! I'm sure you'll love Nagihiko's cakes. He's great at baking." Tadase smiled. Amu looked back at the tea table. Everyone was smiling warmly at her. Even Rima's lips curved into a smirk.

"Sure. I love tea." Amu laughed.

* * *

Ta-da! I hope that was alright. For those of you who don't know, Fuyuki was the anime-only character who had a crush on Rima. I think he'll make a fine friend for Amu there. He's got a good role in my story. Heheh...Not much to say now. If you've got any suggestions on what I could put in the next chapter, I'd love to hear it. So, until next time, R&R please.


	5. Chapter 4

Well, here's the fourth chapter! I am so glad that I got to update faster! I did the best I can to make some fluffy moments! I hope I did okay. Anyways, please enjoy the chapter and do Rate and Review. These things keep me going! It was a bit tricky to think of good names for some of the other professors. But you'll find one professor's name to be quite...amusing.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of its canon characters.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"No, no, no! Amu-san, the great siege of Whaleport was in 1898. It was not in 1888!" the professor groaned.

History class wasn't going too well for Amu. The Luminoir apprentices were having an oral quiz on the history of Whaleport, a topic they had been discussing since day two of classes. So far, Amu had managed to get wrong on about eighty percent of the quiz. Her housemates sniggered every now and then when she stated something wrong. Professor Chihiro rubbed her temples in aggravation. Amu didn't mean to be wrong. It was just that remembering all those days seemed so hard. "Amu-san, were you even _trying_ to study Whaleport's history these past few days?" the professor sighed.

The pinkette nodded and let out a whine. "I did, honestly! It's just that the dates confuse me. I have no trouble in remembering the prominent people and animents who were in the events. I just suck at when they did what…." Amu said. Chihiro looked at her disappointedly. The professor waved her hand at the pinkette. "Quiz is over. You get a D." she said. "Work harder next time, Amu-san." At the same moment, the sound of the school's lunch bell rang loud and clear. Amu sighed and bade their professor goodbye, gloomily picking up her textbooks and notebooks. She straggled around the back of her housemates while they made their way to the Mess Hall. "_I can't believe it_! _School's only started threeo days ago and I'm already failing a subject_…" she thought bitterly.

Her eyes rested on her warrior who was silently perched on her shoulder. "This is not a good start…." she told Alex. Her warrior grinned at her and waved a paw at her dismissively. "_You'll get better_!" he mewed. Amu couldn't help but smile. Through it all, Alex was always there to cheer her up. "Let's hope I do.." Amu smiled weakly.

Feeling a bit better than before, she picked up her pace and was soon in the thick of her group. Her housemates gave her pats on the back and encouraged her. "Besides," Sulu pointed out. "Taka-kun got an F in Potions yesterday and you don't see him frownin'." Amu saw a vengeful frown unfold on said housemate's face. He glared at Sulu and let out a harrumph. "Thanks for reminding me…" he muttered. Amu was glad she had such great housemates. She couldn't help but laugh, she almost forgot the sting of embarrassment that had whipped her a while ago. Taka and Sulu stopped their quarrel when they heard her laugh, and they smiled.

"Good! You're laughin'! Much better!" Taka said.

"Definitely." Sulu added.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

It was amazing how quickly her mood could change. Even with her housemates' encouraging words, Amu found herself down again. She looked at her plate of grapes and cheesecake, finding that her appetite had gone down as well. She shoved her plate away and sighed. Alex eagerly took the opportunity and gobbled up the fruit, popping pieces of grape one by one into his cheeks until they puffed like a chipmunk's. Amu's gaze rested on her warrior for a bit.

Alex noticed her stare and spat out a slimy piece of grape from his mouth and offered it to her. She chuckled, knowing that her warrior would never give her food he had already put in his mouth, and shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks." Amu said. Her warrior shrugged and popped the grape back into his mouth giving her a you-better-cheer-up-soon look before moving on to the pinkette's cheesecake. _I'm trying_. She blew a stray bang from her eyes and thought of a way to make her laugh.

"Amu-san." Fuyuki's voice caught her attention.

She turned to her Big Brother and met his friendly gaze. "Say 'aahh', Amu-san." he smiled. She opened her mouth to ask why, only to have it stuffed with a spoonful of cheesecake. Again, the sweet taste of the dessert made her sigh with delight. She turned to Fuyuki and did a small pout, a light blush spread across her face. "Why do you keep doing that?" she demanded. "It's embarrassing.

Fuyuki grinned and wagged his finger at her. "Ah, but it made you happier, didn't it?" he said. She thought of a smart retort to counter what her Big Brother said, but found nothing in her mental arsenal to use. Defeated, she sighed and nodded in agreement. Fuyuki's grin widened and he scooped another piece of cheesecake from his plate. "Aahh." he told her. She didn't even bother to protest, she opened her mouth and accepted the cheesecake. Amu let out another sigh. Forget her dignity, she thought, that was one good cake!

"Oi, Fuyuki-san. Don't you get all lovey-dovey with Amu-san." one housemate suddenly commented.

In that instant, the rest of the Luminoir table had their eyes on the both of them. Even Alex stopped his gobbling up to flash an amused look at Amu and Fuyuki. Amu's face lit up and she shook her hands around. "N-no! Don't misunderstand! Fuyuki-san was just trying to cheer me up!" she stuttered. Fuyuki nodded and scooped another piece of cheesecake.

"That's right." he agreed. "After all, I'm the Big Brother. If you're jealous about me giving my little sister more attention, I'd be more than happy to feed the rest of you." Fuyuki laughed. Some of the Luminoirs rolled their eyes at him, others laughed with him and some took his offer and jokingly opened their mouths. Fuyuki shoved cake into their mouths, albeit rougher than he did with Amu.

The pinkette heard a few mutters. She turned around and spotted a few Aquall apprentices looking at her housemates disapprovingly. "How vulgar.." she heard one say. "They have no shame.." another one sneered. Amu frowned at them. At least her housemates knew how to have some fun.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

After lunch, the Luminoir apprentices went their separate ways to enjoy their one period of free time. Fuyuki patted Amu on the head and smiled at her. "Don't worry Amu-san." he said. "Life has a way of turning something bad into something good." With a wave, he walked off. Amu decided to explore the school grounds. Perhaps some adventure could add some spice to this bland day. "Yes, that's exactly what I'll do!" she decided. The pinkette picked up her warrior and headed for the entrance door. She made her steps quick, she didn't want to run into anymore…

"Amu-chi!" Yaya's voice boomed.

…_..Delays_. Amu let out a sigh and turned around. A very much giddy Yaya was waiting for her on the steps of the staircase. "Amu-chi, where're you goin'?" Yaya shouted. "We have a meeting now!" Amu felt uncomfortable being stared at by the apprentices. _Why in Luminoir's name does she have to shout like that_? She looked at Yaya and nodded. "Y-yeah. I'm coming…" she muttered. She took one last look of the outside and then made her way to the enthusiastic brunette. More apprentices stared at her as she made her way up the steps. "_I know you're all looking_…." Amu thought. Ever since the apprentice body found out she was given the Joker's position, she had noticed sharper - somewhat malicious – glances being thrown at her by them. _Hey, I didn't ask for this either_.

Yaya eagerly grabbed her arm when she finally reached her. "Geez Amu-chi, why do you walk so slow?" the Ace giggled. Amu just rolled her eyes and resigned herself to being pulled by her upperclassman. "_Hello, Amu-can dechu_!" said a familiar voice. Amu smiled as a cloud bunny leaped from Yaya's shoulder to her vacant one. "Hello, Pepe-kun. You look good today." she told him.

The cloud bunny puffed out his chest proudly whilst adjusting the frilly bow on his ear. "_Thank chu_!" Pepe said smugly. "_I always try to look my best dechu_!" Alex looked over to where Pepe had perched on and let out a huff. "_How can you like being dressed up as a girl when you're a guy_?" he snorted. "_Have you no dignity for your gender_?"

Pepe looked at Alex for a while and grinned arrogantly. "_I wouldn't expect an unfashionable animent such as yourself to understand the complexity of fashion dechu_!" Alex narrowed his eyes at the cloud bunny and let out a huff. Amu smiled at Pepe and patted him on the head. "I think you look attractive with a bow." she admitted. A triumphant grin formed on the cloud bunny's face and he pointed at her with his paws while giving Alex a she-knows-fashion look. Alex mouthed a silent "shut up" with his mouth in response. From the moment they had met, Alex and Pepe began arguing on the most trivial of things. It seemed as if they hated each other, that they couldn't stand each other. Amu knew otherwise. In reality, they were actually pals. It's just that they bonded through arguments was all.

"Pepe-kun, come back now! We've arrived!" Yaya suddenly called. The cloud bunny gave Alex one last raspberry before leaping to his mage's shoulder. Amu turned her attention back to the big, wooden door. _How fast was Yaya pulling me_? The brunette walked up to the door and whispered, "Dragon Fluff" to it. It swung open for the two of them to walk in and then slammed back shut to keep any intruder out.

Amu pulled her hand out of Yaya's grip. "Thanks Yaya-san. I can take it from here." she said. Yaya nodded and headed up to the tea table. She rubbed her wrists gingerly while she made her way to her seat. Why did everyone she knew have to have such strong grips? She put that thought on hold and focused on the meeting. The rest of the Guardians were already in their seats when she had arrived, each of them was sipping quietly on some Rose Tea. Tadase put down his cup and locked his gaze on her.

"Now that Hinamori-san is present, we can begin." Tadase told the Guardians.

Amu felt her face get hot. Great. Just great. She made her upperclassmen wait for her. "Now," Nagihiko started. "I know we're all very excited today, seeing as how Amu will be choosing our first mission of the year." Rima silenced Yaya when she let out a happy whoop. The Queen pinched Yaya on the cheek to do so.

"Rima, if you will." Tadase nodded at the blonde.

Rima bent down from her seat and placed a small box full of letters. She turned her gaze to Amu and pushed the box to her. "Go ahead Joker, choose a mission." Rima agitatedly said. She nodded and picked up a letter. Her eyes quickly scanned the contents of the letter and, with a bit of thought before doing so, placed it to her side. "Not this one…" she muttered. Amu repeated her three steps: pick a letter, read the letter, discard the letter. The pile in the box quickly dwindled until there were only three left.

Rima let out an annoyed sigh. "Come on, Joker." Rima said. "Those missions were given to us by Tsukasa-san himself, surely one of them is worthy enough for _you_." She sensed sharpness in Rima's last word. But she ignored it and picked out the next letter. She read it for a moment and then paused. "Hmm…" she said. After a few more moments, she nodded and placed the letter at the center of the table. "This one."

Tadase picked it up and read it aloud to the rest of the Guardians. It read:

"**To whomever it may concern,**

**I humbly ask for the assistance of some mages to collect some crackle barbs in Groundfall Cave. The people, my people, of Wereinshide need the barbs for a medicinal soup to cure an epidemic that has cost our town ten lives. Many of our mages have tried to gather some barbs, but they all come back severely wounded or near death. To the reader, I humbly ask for your help. **

**The reward will not be small, either. I am willing to pay 54, 000 tears for your service.**

**Mayor Humblinger of Wereinshide"**

Nagihiko seemed impressed by her choice. "Quite an amount for our school funds, hmm?" he told Tadase. The King nodded his approval to her. "Good choice, Hinamori-san. Wereinshide isn't too far from Sanctium Isle. We can get there in an hour if we take the Sky Whale. I advise all of you to stock up on some potions and other medical equipment." Tadase said.

Amu nodded, making a mental note to procure some potions she'd make during her Potions Class. The rest of the meeting mainly focused on studying the Crackle Spiders that produced the crackle barbs. These electric animents were the size of a horse, spun sticky webs and were just as dangerous as their smaller cousins. The barbs the spiders had stuck out on their abdomens, making it especially tricky to pluck them. The venom in their mandibles was specially designed to zap its prey to unconsciousness before killing it with a death bite. "It says the best way to harvest crackle barbs is when the spider is eating. When it eats, its defenses are lowered and it tends to ignore its surroundings." Nagihiko pointed at a paragraph in a book he had fished out. "But they eat really quickly so we have to pluck the barbs fast."

"Who will supply the bait?"

"Ooh, ooh! Yaya-chan will do it! Yaya-chan can make delicious food for the spidey-widey!"

"Alright then, Yaya-san. Make sure it's big so the spider will take more time eating it." Tadase said.

"No problem!" Yaya giggled.

With that, the King finally adjourned the meeting. "We should all be back here by five." Tadase told everyone. Amu decided to stay back a bit and place back all the rejected letters in the box. When she finished, she placed the box under the table and got up from her seat. It was then that she realized Tadase. He had apparently stayed behind as well. For what reason, she wasn't sure of.

"Hinamori-san." Tadase suddenly said. "You seem a bit down. Is something the matter?"

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"I see, so you failed in a History quiz.."

Amu had decided to spill the beans. She figured it wouldn't do her any harm to confide in a fellow Guardian. Quite frankly, among all the Guardians, she felt most at ease with Tadase-kun. They took a walk down the hallway while she explained her predicament to him. Through it all, the King stayed silent and listened patiently to her. It was only when she finished her story did he speak. "You're disappointed that your year isn't starting out so well, right?" he asked her. Amu blinked in surprise and nodded. He hit the nail right on the head. Tadase saw her face and smiled. He extended his hand to her and took her hand in his. "You know, the Guardians are also a kind of family here in the school. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to confide in us Hinamori-san. We'll be more than happy to help you out." he said. He gently squeezed her hand before he let go. She felt her heart skip a beat. A flash of nostalgia ran through her mind. This seemed familiar. But she couldn't tell why. Everything went silent for a while but it was a good silence, there was nothing to say. She found it incredible how Tadase could calm her doubts like that. He had this aura around him that would just soothe anyone who met him. She could understand why _he_ was chosen to be King.

"Ah, that's right!" Amu suddenly realized. She turned to Tadase and dipped her head respectfully. "Thanks a bunch, Tadase-kun. I have to go now! I only have half an hour left of free period to explore the grounds some more!" She broke into a run and dashed her way down the hallway. She dodged a few apprentices during the process, narrowly avoiding a collision with a statue of a dragon and finally screeched to a halt when she reached the stairs. "**Don't run down the stairs, okay? Knowing you, you'd probably trip and fall**!" Kukai's words echoed in her mind. She took his words into consideration and decided to make a slow descent. However, she did mutter bitterly about her friend thinking that she was a total klutz.

"I am so _not_ a klutz!" she muttered.

To prove it, she successfully climbed down the stairs without even looking at the steps. A smug look found its way to her face. "How's that for a klutz?" she chuckled. She gave her warrior a high five and headed for the entrance door once again. "_I can't wait to see what this school's grass is like_!" Alex chirruped. "_I betcha it isn't as good as the grass we got in Heion_!" Amu grinned at Alex and shrugged. "Only one way to find out!" she told her warrior. She took her first steps out of the castle and was immediately flooded with sunlight. She covered her eyes with her hand to stop the glare and took a good look around. Aside from the grimblestone roads that crisscrossed across the grounds, everything else was just grass and tree.

She took in a deep breath and exhaled quite happily. "The air here is amazing!" she said. Alex did the same thing too, cocking his head up to really get the fresher air. He nodded his head in agreement. Her warrior opened his mouth to add something else, but paused when his sensitive ears caught something. He swiveled around and perked his ears towards the castle. He poked his mage on the head when he caught the culprit of the noise. "_Amu, he's calling you_." Alex mewed.

She turned back to see Tadase. He was panting a bit while he made his way to her, but was clearly happy that she had finally heard him. She met him half way and looked at him worriedly. "What's wrong?" she asked. The King raised a hand in response and tried to catch his breath. It was obvious that he was out of breath. After a few moments of panting, he straightened himself up and wiped a few beads of sweat from his face with a handkerchief.

"I-I was wondering…." Tadase stuttered. "Would you like a tour guide?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Eh?" was all she could say. Tadase smiled at her and shrugged. "I don't really have anything to do anyway and I thought, well, this could be a great opportunity to get to know you better." he confessed, twiddling his fingers around as he spoke. Amu felt her face heat up. "G-get to know me better?" she repeated. Her blush increased when she saw the small blush on the blonde's face. And that face. Oh mages, that face was so adorable! He was looking at her so innocently with such big, pleading eyes that he reminded her of a Dandelion puppy. _He's much cuter than any puppy I've seen_.

"Hai! Since we'll be going on missions from now on, it's only natural to know your teammate more." Tadase said. Amu's blush quickly disappeared and she let an inward sigh. _Oh, right_. She felt a bit disappointed, but she couldn't really explain why.

"I'd be happy to have you show me around-" Amu smiled.

"MATTE!" a voice boomed.

Both she and Tadase turned to see his warrior charging out from the castle. Kiseki, as she had recalled the lion's name to be, leaped in between the two of them and looked at her disapprovingly. He let out a loud snort and turned to his mage. "_Tadase-sama, you mustn't associate yourself with commoners. Especially if it's with a plain looking girl such as her_. _It will ruin your kingly image._" he growled. There was that snobby tone again. She found it rather irritating to listen to Kiseki, excluding the fact that he had just called her plain. Alex seemed the most offended.

She watched as he puffed his fur out and let out a furious hiss. He leaped from her shoulders and stood in front of the lion that towered over him. His gaze locked with Kiseki's blue eyes and he scowled. "_If anyone's ruining this boy's image, it'd be you and your big mouth_." Alex snapped. Kiseki let out a low growl and glared back at her warrior. "_It makes sense that a low-class apprentice has a low-class warrior._" the lion retorted.

"_A low-class warrior like me at least has some manners, and better breath._"

"_You dare insult a king such as myself, peasant_?!"

"_Uh, don't stand to close. I don't want to smell your fish breath!_" Alex covered his nose in disdain.

"_I….! I command you to take back you rude wor-_" Kiseki snapped.

Tadase patted his warrior on the head. Kiseki turned to him and just stared for a while. Amu could see the seriousness that flashed in the King's eyes. Kiseki let out a sigh and sat down. "Kiseki, a true gentleman should never insult a lady. Apologize at one." Kiseki flinched at the sharp tone in Tadase's voice. The lion looked up at Amu and, quite half-heartedly, muttered a sorry. He and Alex exchanged one more glare before her warrior bounded back up to her shoulder again.

Tadase looked at Amu again and offered her an apologetic smile. "Please forgive my warrior. He's mean towards strangers, but he'll warm up to you eventually." he insisted. Amu just shook her head and chuckled. "It's fine." she said. But Tadase didn't seem convinced. He walked up to her and fixed a stray bang that was covering her eyes. "You're not plain-looking, just so you know. You're very beautiful." he told her with a smile. "And don't let anyone tell you otherwise, hmm?" Amu felt her heart skip a beat. "'Kay." she laughed.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Tadase walked her over to the lake. Amu marveled at the clear waters it had. "Why is it so clean?" she said. Tadase bent down to scoop a handful of water and let it spill from his hands. She noticed a certain sparkle in the water as it fell back to the lake. "Is that..?" Tadase nodded and got up. "Water Magic. It's a simple purification spell the Aquall apprentices cast on the lake every day." Tadase said. "Every morning at dawn, all the Aquall apprentices come to the lake to practice their magic by purifying its waters. It's beneficial not only to the apprentices, but to the water as well. This lake is home to a vast ecosystem of various plant and animal life. The cleaner the water, the healthier they are."

She nodded and looked at the waters again, admiring the good work the Aqualls did. "Rima does this too?" she added. Tadase smiled in response.

"Oh, yes. She's one of the earliest of the Aqualls to come to the lake."

"Isn't it a bit tiring to get up so early everyday to do that?"

"Perhaps, but Rima enjoys doing it. She loves seeing all the creatures of the lake happy because of what her house does." Tadase shrugged.

So Rima had a softspot. Go figure. Then again, Amu always admired a person with a kind heart for animents. "Tadase," she suddenly spoke. "Why do the Aqualls seem so, I don't know, testy all the time?" The King thought for a moment, most likely trying to think of a non-offensive answer. "Water mages are born perfectionists in a way. They always want to do the best they can in everything. Among all the houses, it is the Aqualls that take their studies the most seriously. Their Big Sister, Utau Hoshina, is a fine example of true commitment. Despite her modeling career at present, she always makes room for her studies." Tadase explained. He leaned into Amu's ear and whispered, "In truth, they're really a nice bunch. They're just shy is all."

Amu found it hard to see such cool, elegant students such as the Aqualls to be shy. Snobby? Sure. Proud? Most definitely, but shy? It didn't really seem to fit. She followed Tadase down the path towards the Greenhouse. Its shape was very identical to that of a barn's, differing only in the fact that it was completely enclosed with translucent glass. She could see plants and trees of different kinds growing inside. Tadase opened the door for her to let her in, to which she thought was so gentlemanly.

"This is the Terran House's responsibility. They come here after breakfast to tend to the plants and water them. When a plant or tree seems to wither, they cast a rejuvenation spell to help it cope up." Tadase explained. He walked up to a bush covered in gorgeous roses. "Sometimes, they experiment with crossbreeding and magical installations to the genes of the roses. These are special hybrids they made known as Mood Roses. As the name suggests, they reflect the mood of the person who touches them." He lightly touched a rose with his finger. Amu watched in amazement as the color shifted from snow-white to royal blue.

"This means I'm happy." He told her. Tadase took hold of the stem and cut it from the bush. "It's most fortunate that the Terran apprentices granted the Guardians permission to pluck some of their flowers every now and then. They're usually quite protective of the plants they grow." Tadase blew on the flower, expelling a small platinum flame from his mouth. The flame encased itself around the flower and disappeared as soon as it was done. Tadase twirled it around in his fingers before he carefully placed it in Amu's hair. "This is for you. You can say it's my salutatory gift to you for joining the Guardians." he said. She watched him grin at her as the royal blue hue of the rose changed into a violet-blue.

"I'm glad you like it." Tadase chuckled. Amu looked away to hide the blush that practically exploded on her face. "Y-yeah. Thank you, Tadase-kun." she stuttered. Then a thought came to her. She did her best to hide her blush and faced Tadase. "Why did you breath fire on it?" she questioned.

"Oh, that. I'm merely preserving it. This flame will lengthen the rose's lifespan for up to a whole year." Tadase pointed at the glossy shine on the rose. "Shall we move on to the next spot?" They went out of the Greenhouse and went around the castle. Kiseki decided to take the lead and padded a few feet ahead of them. "_Apprentice, behold the greatest part of HSA_!" he proudly stated. She hurried after the lion and gawked in awe at what she saw. Amidst the grassy plain and the pathways behind the school stood a tall coliseum that was almost as big as the castle. She could hear the faint sounds of cheering and metals clashing with one another.

"That is the Training Coliseum." Tadase caught up with her and let her enjoy looking at the structure. "This is where HSA holds Monstrolitus, the sport every mage school plays." The King grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the coliseum. "Come on!" he smiled.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Amu had heard about coliseums before. She had studied the Roman Coliseum once during her childhood and sometimes fantasized herself battling the ferocious ancestors of the lion animents that existed at present, being in an actual coliseum really made her day. Her eyes darted from the stands to the officials' stand and then rested on the dusty battlefield. She saw some apprentices training with their warriors. One Aeria apprentice casted a small tornado to blow away her Aquall opponent who, with very little effort, conjured up a water horse to stop the tornado in its tracks. "Woah." Amu said. "So, what does one do in Monstrolitus?" Amu turned to Tadase for answers.

"Well, the objective of the game is to protect a specific object from being swiped by mock monsters for as long as possible. Mock monsters are elemental training dummies conjured up by the professors to battle the participants."

"Much like the sentry birds outside the school?"

"Somewhat. Mock monsters don't think and have only one objective printed in their minds: swipe the object. When you kill a mock monster, it will shrivel into dust and then reform into a new monster to attack you again."

"Oh. How many participants are there?"

"Five, one representative for each house. The monsters disappear only when the game is over and the game ends when only one house representative still has their object. There is no time limit, so a battle can last well into the night. Seeing as how the game is so time consuming, we only hold Monstrolitus every Friday afternoons." Tadase answered.

"Did Kukai participate in the games?" Amu asked.

Tadase looked at her surprisingly before smiling at her and giving her a nod. "Yup. When he was representing Infernos, my house, he was able to last for approximately five hours before winning the game for us." he said. Amu let out a whistle and looked back at the battlefield. "That's pretty long." she muttered.

"And quite exhausting." Tadase added. "I remember a time when an Aquall apprentice fainted from too much fatigue. This game really tests your limits. That's why whenever we hold the game, we never let the same apprentice represent us. We have to give others a chance, too." Tadase called Amu to him and showed her out of the coliseum. They made their way down south to Firefly Forest, the last part of the tour. "Although I'm sure you're already familiar with this part of the school. After all, your house's dormitory rests along the border of the forest." Tadase pointed out.

Amu nodded her agreement. It came to her as a surprise when she first learned that the Luminoir House did not have its own tower in the castle. Fuyuki had explained to her that Luminoir wanted her apprentices to be apart from the others. He didn't tell her why the mage did it, but it didn't seem like he needed to. As she, Tadase, and her warriors made their way to her dorm, it was clear why Luminior put it there. The nice shade the trees provided gave the dorm a dark, yet ungloomy air. It was calm and silent, just how her housemates liked it. Luminior knew what she was doing.

"Hey Tadase-kun, what do you know about Luminoir?" she said. The King was quick to answer. "Not that much. I know that she was a very powerful mage. She declined the offer to be a sage of magic, which was no surprise. Though she was known to be the greatest Shadow Mage in mage history, she wasn't at all boastful of her skills and was quite secretive. Three years after the sages opened HSA's doors to apprentices, she just disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to her." Tadase divulged.

_A woman of mystery_. Amu admired people who had a mystical air to them. She saw how Tadase was looking for any other information he had on the mage, his eyebrows furrowing in thought. Perhaps it was time to change the subject.

"So, do you like being the King of the Guardians?"

Tadase seemingly snapped out of his daze and looked at her. She was happy to see a smile curving his lips up. "It's a demanding job, I admit. Once you're a member of the Guardians, you stay a member till you graduate. We're not elected by the apprentices like the other schools. I'm sure you already know why. As King, I have to oversee the activities and festivals my father approves for the school and see to it that they go smoothly." He took in a breath. "But I love seeing the happy looks on my fellow apprentices' faces. It makes all me effort worth it."

They made their way to a big, stone-cladded house. Its light gray walls stood out amongst the dark foliage of the forest and was illuminated by the dim lighting of the fireflies that floated about the air. She could hear the familiar laughs of her housemates inside and felt her heart tugging her to join them. She smiled at Tadase once more. "Again, thank you for showing me around. It was a lot more fun with you around." she said. Tadase grinned and nodded. "The feeling is quite mutual, Hinamori-san."

He gently took her hand and placed a light kiss on it. "I look forward to our first mission with great anticipation." Tadase gave one more nod and headed back for the castle. She watched him and his warrior leave, her eyes never wandering from his dazzling silhouette till they could no longer see him. After a moment to regain her composure, she walked up the steps to the dormitory and walked in. Unbeknownst to her, a smile had found a way to her face.

"Hey, Amu-chan! You look happy!" Sulu noted.

"I saw you with Tadase-sama! What were you two doing?" Taka smirked.

"E-eh?! Amu-san, was with the King?! I won't let my newest little sister be taken away so early!" Fuyuki said worriedly.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

It had taken up the rest of free period to settle the misunderstanding with her housemates. Even though she only had fifteen minds whose opinions of her she had to change, it was still a difficult task. They kept teasing her and making jokes about her and Tadase. "I'm telling you, he was just showing me around the school!" she insisted. Taka could barely reply. He was too busy trying to stop himself from laughing himself faint. "Okay, okay! I-I be…Hahah! I believe you-hoohoo!" he managed to say. Amu rolled her eyes and slumped down on one of the common room's sofas. "You guys are mean…" she grumbled. She felt Sulu's arms wrap around her shoulders. "But you can't hate us, can't ya?" the red-head grinned cheekily. Amu looked at Sulu with a hint of annoyance, but eventually gave in and nodded. "I can't." she agreed.

It was then that the school bell decided to toll away its echoing chimes. The Luminoir apprentices gathered themselves towards the entrance. Amu let out a small whine and followed. She didn't get to relax at all! "Taka-kun, what's our next subject?" she whispered to her housemate.

"Oh, that'd be Combat classes. We didn't get to have them these past few days 'cause the groundskeepers were still preparing them."

"Eh?! We actually get to have classes in the Monster Coliseum?" Amu gasped.

"Of course! Where else could we practice destructive spells and fighting skills?" Taka huffed.

Amu felt really excited. She couldn't wait to battle or learn a new spell or basically do anything that didn't involve sticking her nose in a textbook. Seeing her housemates not bringing their "_The Art of Combat 101_" books made her even happier.

The Luminoir House made their way to the large coliseum and lined up respectively along the grounds of the battlefield. Fuyuki signaled to his Black Bear with a flick of his wrists. Otto, which Amu knew the bear's name to be, looked at the other warriors and growled a command to stand in front of their mages. Alex immediately hopped off her shoulder to sit contentedly on the dusty ground. She watched Fuyuki look over to the officials' stands high up in the seats of the coliseum and gave a thumbs up to it. A low voice boomed from the speakers that surrounded the battlefield.

"Welcome you Luminoir lot! I am so glad you all came to class on time!" the voice said. "I am Professor Fey Talitee, director of sports in HSA and housemaster of the Terran House! Now, give me a minute…" A small click was heard, indicating that the microphone had been turned off. Amu looked up to the officials' stands this time to catch a glimpse of their professor. Though Professor Fey was present at the sorting ceremony, Amu had practically ignored the existence of anyone she did not know. It was a fault of hers.

It was after the passing of five minutes did she start to doubt if whether or not the professor was coming. She was beginning to get tired of waiting when she suddenly felt something move beneath her. She looked at the ground and saw a few pebbles near her quaking. Within that split second, she jumped out of the way as a huge figure blasted out of the ground. She stood there, quite shell-shocked, as the figure turned to face her. It took her a moment to figure who the figure was.

"Good reflexes Ms. Hinamori." Fey grinned.

She took a good look at the dusty professor. His emerald eyes stared down at her with a funny yet intimidating gaze. He was smiling at her. At least she thought he was. It was kind of hard to tell with his blonde mustache and beard covering his lips. His face looked rough and had a number of scars running across it. He had wrinkles near his eyes, possibly smile crinkles and his hair was combed back into a refined looking style. His posture was slack, though that did not deter the great height advantage he had compared to her. He was probably six foot-five, she guessed and shadowed her entire body with his own. She noted the lean, rippling muscles on his arms, easily seen due to the ripped sleeves of his yellow safari uniform. His heavy-action boots that he wore over his black pants seemed aged and was covered with scratches and stitches. The most eye-catching piece of the professor, however, was the large sword that dangled on his belt. _Wonder what he cut up with that_.

She shook her head to snap out of her analyzing and looked back up to Fey. "What was the point of doing that?" she told him. The professor gave her a wink and turned his back to her. "Just testin' you. I saw what you did in the sortin' ceremony. Goodness! Shoulda seen the look on the other apprentices' faces when that shadow ball thingy came zoomin' towards ya." he chuckled. "Wanted to see if yer reflexes were as good as the reaction in the ceremony. I must say, it weren't too bad."

She fell back into line with her housemates as Fey made his way to the center of the battlefield. She patted off some dust that had settled on her robe before focusing on her professor. "Now," Fey's voice was loud and clear. "Today I'll just be seein' what skills you and yer warriors got. When I call yer name, step forward. You can show me a spell you might know, maybe a cool move yer warrior can do. Show me anything that might interest me!"

She watched him eye each of her housemates with a somewhat mischievous gaze. She flinched when he let out a very loud "Aha!" and pointed his finger at Sulu. "You there! Yer up first!" Fey laughed. Sulu seemed a bit flabbergasted and stuttered a small retort as she made her way to the professor. "I thought you said you'd call our names…" Sulu muttered. Fey shrugged in response. "Aye, I did say that. Problem is, I don't know most of you. Now go ahead, show me what ya got!"

Sulu called forth Oriogon, her shadow wolf, and did a quick double-snap of her fingers. The she-wolf quickly dashed up to her mage, collecting a huge amount of light during her run. At the last moment, Oriogon halted and allowed the great cluster of light to sling forward and crash against the earth. A big crater replaced the ground near the apprentice and professor's feet. Sulu quickly followed up with a small incantation and conjured up a shadowy armor to encase itself around her arm. She did a few twirls and leaps before crashing her armored hand into the center of the crater, effectively deepening it by at least a foot.

Fey clapped his hands. "Nice combination, Miss Sulu. The speed of yer shadow wolf is very respectable. I don't see many wolves able to come to a complete stop without injuring itself or tripping due to the momentum." he said. "You are also gifted with an agile body. You move and twist quickly without any strain, which I appreciate in an apprentice. But yer showy performance might slow you down." He dismissed Sulu with a wave and pointed to the next apprentice.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Now it was her turn. Amu confidently strode up to Fey. She had been waiting for this. She could barely keep in all the excitement oozing from her. If she had been a mug of beer, her frothing would've already spilled out of her. When he gave her the "go" signal, Alex immediately charged at her. He shot out a few shadow balls at her and aimed to tackle her on the stomach. She zoned in on the speeding projectiles and easily diverted them away using a simple flick of her hand. Without breaking a sweat, she blocked her warrior's tackle using her two arms as shields from his attack. She wasted no time and propelled him back with wave of shadow that crashed down the little creature's face. Alex let out a yip, but stood proud and firm on the ground after the attack.

"Stop!" Fey's voice shouted.

Amu and her warrior immediately paused, their eyes turning to the professor who had been observing their show of skills. She slowly straightened herself and called Alex to her. The little creature quickly leaped back onto her shoulder. When she looked into the professor's eyes, she felt relieved to see that gleam of amusement in them. "That was really good, Miss Hinamori. Yer warrior has good accuracy in pinpointing yer vital spots with his shots. It's especially hard since he was moving. And you! You were able to not only avoid getting damaged by his attacks, but you were able to re-direct the shadow balls elsewhere. Had there been other opponents here, I don't doubt that you'd re-direct the attacks at them." Fey chuckled.

"Very good! Well done!" He clapped his hands together for her and told her to go back to the line. He sat down on the ground and let out a sigh. The Luminoir apprentices did the same and settled themselves down with their warriors. "Guess that's all of you. You lot have lots of power, which is to be expected seeing as your all Shadow Apprentices. During the next few days, we'll work to hone all that raw potential you all have." Professor Fey suddenly spoke. "Because you all showed me some interesting skill, I will reward you by showing off a bit of mine."

The professor let out a chuckle and let out a shrill whistle. The earth next to him almost immediately gave way to yet another figure coming out of the ground. Amu felt a smile creep up on her face. It was a Forest Wolf! And a big one at that. The brawny beast was almost twice the size of the usual Forest Wolves she had seen. It's thick, brown coat was shiny and glossy, a clear indication of its fitness. She noticed a long scar running down from its eye to its chest. The Forest Wolf sat itself down next to the professor and let out a friendly whoof. "This old dog here is Waggs, me faithful warrior. He's been with me through almost everything. Waggs, why don't you show these pups how a real wolf growls, huh?" Fey smiled.

Waggs sat up and let out a small yawn. He did a bit of stretching and shook himself awake before he let loose a loud, low-rumbling growl. Though it was just a normal growl, nothing of the elemental side, the blood-chilling sound sent shivers up Amu's spine and made her grunt with discomfort. She looked at her fellow housemates to find that they too were shaken up, all except Fuyuki. The boy didn't seem all too intimidated by the growl and looked more or less unaffected. His warrior was very similar in reaction and looked as if nothing had happened.

"And if yer wonderin' how strong I am…." She had barely enough time to look back at Fey before the man smashed his fist against the ground. All the apprentices were literally shot up from the ground due to the sheer force of the impact. Amu looked at her professor wide-eyed. He was truly a terrifying teacher. She felt a new-found respect for the man. At first he just struck her as somewhat showy and pompous, but now, he was wickedly cool. The rest of the class was spent mainly on roughing out a few flaws Fey had seen in their skills. She was amazed by his sharp eye for mistakes. He had told her that if she would immediately move her hands away after a block, she'd be able to use the force of the hit and redirect it to the opponent for some good damage.

She tried it out and was astounded by just how effective such a simple adjustment improved her chances in defending herself. She felt slightly disappointed when the bell tolled away again. Combat Class was now over. The Lumior apprentices bade their goodbyes to Professor Fey Talitee and moved towards the castle. Amu felt a lump settle in her stomach. The next class was arguably her least liked subject: Potions. Now this didn't mean she didn't like making potions or elixers, mages no. It was the professor that she particularly found uncomfortable to be around with. She and her housemates made their way to the western wing of the castle and entered a big chamber with a silver plaque that read: "Potions Lab".

"Ah, good morning Amu." came the flirtatious greeting of a certain blue-haired Potions professor. She rolled her eyes at the professor and walked to her working station. Once she was seated, the professor cleared his throat. "Good morning, Luminoir apprentices!" he smiled.

"Morning Professor Ikuto!" Taka waved.

"You seem quite excited, Professor." Fuyuki chuckled.

"I wonder why that could be ?" Sulu said sarcastically, shooting Amu a quick smirk.

Amu looked away to hide the small blush. Right from the first Potions classes had begun days efore, she couldn't help but get the feeling she was being watched. At one point, she stopped making an elixir she was mixing just to confirm her suspicions. Of course, it was none other than Ikuto who was watching her. When he had caught her staring at him, he put on a sly look and mouthed, "Like what you see?"

Now the young professor made it an annoying habit to tease her. His teasing was done through flirting. He'd wink at her, break her concentration by blowing in her ear. Ikuto even had the nerve to call her by her first name! She barely knew the guy, knowing that he was three years older than her and that he was the youngest professor in the school. She'd roll her eyes when she'd hear other apprentices calling him a heart-throb or lady-killer. Well, he was killing her alright.

Amu turned to look at Ikuto again while he discussed to the class about making a scent-hiding potion. "I've already prepared you with the ingredients you need. You have to follow the steps precisely to making this potion. A single slip-up and you'll ruin the whole brew!" he reminded them. Ikuto snapped his fingers and the ingredients appeared in a flash of blue fames on each of the tables. Amu got to work right away. She flipped her book to the page containing the steps to the potion. She grabbed a pinch of persley dust and sprinkled it over the cauldron. Alex smashed a bricknut with his tail and gave the crumbs to her. She mixed it with the grass flour in her hands and tossed it in the cauldron. The color of the water immediately shifted to a dark blue.

"Nice job, Amu." she heard Ikuto's words being whispered in her ears.

She jolted back, nearly falling of her high stool, and turned around to face that flirt for a professor. Ikuto smirked at her reaction, lightly tapping her forehead with a finger. She hated satisfying his teasing with her regrettably amusing reastions, but who could blame her? She didn't like being teased. Not one bit. "What a cute reaction." he said. "And speaking of reactions, you'll know you've done a good job on your potion if you hear a small hiss after throwing in the rose feathers." He didn't wait for her to come up with a retort and walked over to another Luminoir and criticizing their progess. "Ugh! You call this blue? It's more like puce!" she heard him sigh.

Amu shook her head. She would not let him distract her today. He had already caused her to mess up on a potion before. She asked Alex for some garlic. The little creature gave her two cloves and brought some wolf bane without her telling him to. She smiled at her little warrior. At least there was someone helping her through this.

She stirred the brew four times in a clockwise direction and then stirred it once counter-clockwise. Now it was time for the final ingredient. She counted to five and then picked up the rose feathers. She blew on the brew quickly, as it was instructed in her textbook, and threw in the feathers in. She heard a small hiss as the red feathers touched the liquid. It was immediately consumed in the brew and changed the blue liquid into translucent pink. She let out a happy sigh and relaxed on her seat. "Done!" she said.

She immediately regretted saying it out loud. Ikuto had just finished giving Fuyuki an A+ in his potion and was now eagerly going to her work station. He said nothing, which was a pleasant surprise for her, and looked into her cauldron. "Yoru!" Ikuto said. A blue wildcat leaped onto her table. "_You called, nya_?" he snickered. Ikuto pointed at her cauldron and leaned in to whisper in his warrior's ear.

Yoru nodded and padded up to her brew. He took one sniff and let out a purr. "It smells awesome, nya!" Yoru purred. Ikuto smirked at Amu. "Good job, Amu. A+ for you." he said. "Now, let's give this a test try." Ikuto fished out a small spoon from his lab gown and scooped a few drops of her brew. Amu let out a gasp as he splashed her with her potion. The liquid immediately absorbed into her skin. Ikuto quickly drew his hand and pulled her face to his. He looked at her for a moment, his dark blue eyes focusing on her narrowed honey-gold ones. After a second, he moved his face to her hair and inhaled. She felt a small shiver run down her spine. Her face heated up when she heard him chuckle.

Ikuto drew back and clapped his hands a couple of times. "Your potion is very effective. I couldn't even catch a hint of your strawberry scent." Ikuto teased. She noticed him looking at her Mood Rose and saw that his smirk widened. "Interesting…" He whipped around and moved on to Taka's finished potion. She caught Sulu and Fuyuki smiling at her. Their smiles were teasing and Sulu even mutedly laughed at her. _Thanks for your support_. Making sure that Ikuto wasn't looking, she took out a small vile and poured some of her potion in it. This would help out somehow on their mission.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Amu was the first one to get out of the lab when the bell tolled. "I'll see you all tomorrow!" she heard Ikuto tell them. _I won't look forward to it._ Then she remembered of her Guardians meeting. She excused herself from her housemates and quickly made her way to the Royal Garden. She practically threw herself at the door while whispering "Dragon Fluff" to it. It swung open just in time, missing her face by a mere two inches. She tumbled into the garden with a loud thump, narrowly avoiding falling onto the ground face-first. Alex leaped off her shoulder just in time and watched her worriedly. She put her hands in front of her and curled her body up when she fell to the floor. The action caused her to go into a triple summersault. She twisted her body on the last cycle and forced herself to stand up straight. She heard her warrior let out a relieved sigh. "That was close…" she muttered.

"Wow! Nice job, Amu-chi!" Yaya cheered.

She turned to her fellow council members and realized she had performed acrobatics in front of them. She especially took note of the bemused smile on Tadase's face. For the umpteenth time that day, she blushed. "I-I-I-I…Eto…..Oops?" she smiled awkwardly. The King just smiled. "That was quite a surprise, Hinamori-san. I didn't know you were so athletic." Tadase said.

Yaya nodded in agreement and raised her hand in the air, waving it quite rapidly as she did. "Ooh! Ooh! Kukai-kun told me that Amu-chi fights Forest Wolves on a regular basis and that she can defeat them without having to really injure them!" the Ace giggled. Pepe nodded from his seat on the tea table. "_That's right, dechu! Daichi-san told me too, dechu_!" the cloud bunny added. Alex seemed to have proud look on his maw as he went back to his perch on Amu's shoulder.

Nagihiko pursed his lips and let out a whistle. "Really, now? Not bad, Amu-chan. Never knew you had it in you." he said. Even Rima seemed vaguely interested. She raised an eyebrow at her. "My, my. You're pretty _and_ a good fighter? That's quite a find. Don't you think so, Tadase-kun?" Amu couldn't tell if she was serious, or just pulling her leg. But in a way, the Queen did just give her the first compliment in days so she just smiled. She failed to notice the small blush on the King's face when Rima asked him of his opinion. He covered his lips with a hand and raised his teacup to prevent himself from answering. The Queen let a small smirk unfold on her face before deciding to drop the question and sipping a bit of her tea.

Amu sat herself down on her seat and took out her potion. "I-uh, brought this for the mission." She placed the vile with the pink liquid on the table. Nagihiko's eyes immediately lit up. He snatched the vile and took a good look at it. "Incredible, where did you get such a clear brew?" she heard him ask her. Amu scratched her head a bit before she said, "I made it during Potions Class. I thought it could be of use to us somehow…"

Nagihiko looked at her, surprised, and opened the vile to inhale its aroma. "Simply aromatic, as if it were a rose…" he muttered. The Jack closed the vile and placed it back on the table. "This will definitely be useful on our mission." he told her. "Good job, Amu-chan." Amu felt happy. She made the right choice after all. She smiled at Alex and gave him a thumbs up. He grinned at her in return. "_Yeah_!" he whispered.

"Alright, now to get to business." Tadase interrupted.

He produced a map from his platinum flame and placed it on the table. "Meliora visum." He recited. The pictures of the islands and the countries floated up into the air to form a 3D image of the Earth. Tadase pointed at a tiny island and it immediately swelled until it pushed the other countries out of sight. "This is the isle of Wereinshide. We'll dock on its town's port and make our way to the town's mayor." he discussed. Amu saw how the atmosphere shifted into a heavy, serious one. The Guardians and their warriors studied the map with their attention undistracted. Nagihiko's Vine Snake had stopped hissing, Rima's River Otter quietly watched the floating image, even Pepe stopped munching on some of the cookies to take a good look at their destination.

_How cool_. It was then that she remembered that she was with experienced apprentices who had already tasted a real mission. How the thought of a real, dangerous mission excited her. She had to clench her fists into tight balls just to keep herself from shaking with anticipation. "What's our time limit?" Amu suddenly asked. Tadase looked at her and muttered a few calculations.

"At most, we have at least five hours."

"If we can't complete it by that time?"

"We will get a deduction in our general grades. The missions we take are graded."

"Well isn't that comforting?" Amu chuckled dryly.

"It keeps us motivated." Tadase shrugged.

The King kept his map and got up. "Let's get going. Our time limit starts now." he said. She and her fellow council members got up in unison and followed their King out of the chamber, their warriors kept by their side.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"Oh my gosh! It's the Guardians!"

"They're so cool!"

"Kyaa! I think Tadase-sama smiled at me!"

"Rima-sama, you look as beautiful as ever!"

"Eep! Yaya-sama is so cute!"

"Be still my heart, Nagihiko-sama looks so ravishing today…"

Amu had known that her council members were popular, but this was ridiculous! Every apprentice that saw the Guardians coming gathered around them and admired them like love-stricken maidens. She even saw Saaya amongst the crowd, her followers were raising a banner that read: "We love you, Tadase-sama!"

When their eyes met, Saaya immediately scowled at her and looked away. _Nice to see you again, too_. Amu noticed the odd looks the apprentices were giving her. They didn't say anything bad about her, thank Luminoir. Then again, they weren't exactly shouting out her name. She caught the gaze of one apprentice and held a somewhat cold look, caused by her awkward shyness, then looked away. She heard the girl let out a small squeak. "S-So cold!" the girl swooned.

As they made their way down the stairs, the apprentices crowding them parted to make a path for them to walk on. Tadase smiled at the apprentices and thanked them with his gentle voice. A few girls let out 'Kyaa's and sighed with adoration. Rima turned into a posh beauty queen and gave her male admirers a totally unnatural cutsie-wootsy smile. The boys didn't really seem to care if whether or not it was real and just fawned over the attention the Queen was giving them. Amu rolled her eyes and said nothing, tucking her hands into her robe pockets. _Please be over soon_.

She was thankful that the apprentices did not follow the Guardians outside of the castle. She let out a small sigh. "A bit startling, isn't it?" Rima smirked. "You're lucky you aren't that popular yet. It would've been harder if you had fans." Amu gave the petite blonde a fake smile. _That really makes me feel better, thanks_. Just then, she heard the familiar voice of Kukai call out to her.

"Oi! Wait a second!" the orangehead said.

Amu stopped in her tracks and broke from the group to meet him halfway. "What's up? I'm a little busy right now…" she started.

"I know, I know." Kukai said. "But I just wanted to give you this. I think this will be of use to you." Kukai handed to her the staff her uncle gave her. Her eyes widened in surprise. She had totally forgotten to bring it with her. She turned to the Guardians and saw that they had brought a weapon with them too, Tadase was bringing a sword, Rima had a whip (which Amu thought kind of suited the Queen), Nagihiko had with him a bow, and Yaya brought an oversized mallet. Okay, she couldn't blame herself for not seeing the sword, the bow and the whip. But how the hell did she _not _ see Yaya's huge weapon?

With a thankful smile, she took the staff from Kukai. "Thanks." she whispered. Kukai waved his hand dismissively. "No problem. You can thank your Big Brother as well. He was the one who noticed you leaving your staff behind." Kukai grinned. He extended a fist to her and Amu gladly bumped her own fist against it. "I owe you." she added.

"I'll look forward to that." Kukai grinned. He headed back into the castle, stopping to give Tadase a somewhat mysterious look. "Keep her safe on her first mission, Tadase!" She turned and saw the King have a somewhat complicated look on his face. His lips were quivering, perhaps trying hard not to smile? Amu dismissed that thought and ran back to the group.

"Lucky you have Kukai, huh?" Yaya elbowed her in the side. Amu let out a small grunt and chuckled, playfully pushing Yaya away. "I am." she said happily. A carriage was waiting outside for them. Yaya and Rima got in first with their warriors. Nagihiko went in right after. Amu took a step towards the carriage, but Kiseki leaped in front of her and haughtily trotted in first. Alex let out an annoyed hiss. She patted her warrior on the head to shush him. "It's alright." she said.

Amu looked at Tadase and nodded at him to go first. The King shook his head and opened the carriage door wider. "Ladies first." he smiled. She nodded her thanks and got in first. There was very little space left in the carriage, mostly because Kiseki was hogging up a big spot on the seats. Tadase peeked his head in and scolded him. "Kiseki!" he warned. His lion let out a small grumble and settled for the floor with Rhythm, Nagihiko's snake. It had increased the empty space in the carriage quite a bit, but it would be a tight fit. She sat next to Nagihiko and was sandwiched between the two boys when Tadase took his seat beside her. "Terribly sorry for the tight fit." The King apologized.

She shook her head. "I've been in tighter spots. I was once cramped into a small room with thirty people, with a capacity of twenty people." she assured him. But it was still hard to move. She squirmed a bit, trying to find a somewhat comfortable position. After a bit more moving, she finally found a position she could bare with. It was then that she realized how exhausted she was. Now given the chance to really sit down, Amu felt her muscles aching from all the running about. She also felt a bit sleepy. She stifled a yawn and gave her wrist a small pinch. _Gotta stay awake_.

The carriage ride was antagonizing her. The way the carriage swayed, the way it rocked, the way the scenery slowly passed by, it made her eyes droop. Her head was screaming to her to take a nap, but she resisted. Who knows what embarrassing action she might do if she'd close her eyes? The thought just terrified her and fueled her determination not to sleep.

It wasn't until they reached Sanctium Town's Whale Port did she see the consequence of her choice. When she got out of the carriage, she nearly collapsed. Her muscles were barely even trying to hold her up. Tadase quickly came to her aid and helped her keep her balance. "Is something wrong, Hinamori-san?" he worried. She shook her head and gently took his hand off her shoulder. "Yeah, I guess I was just clumsy, heh." she lied. It was an unsteady walk up the Sky Whale. The fact that the whale's tongue was soft and unstable didn't help either.

She let out a sigh when they reached the stomach chamber. At least the floor was solid now. Amu noticed that the interior seemed a whole lot smaller than when she last came. She turned to the nearest Guardian to satisfy her curiosity. "Nagihiko-san, why is the chamber small?"

The Jack combed back a few stray locks of his back and said, "It's to accommodate the number of passengers on board. It's chamber becomes bigger or smaller to adjust to the passengers on board. Seeing as how it's just us Guardians, the Sky Whale has eliminated all the cabins here and only has one big hall here." Nagihiko explained. "There are a few benches in the center with a few small tables for us to stay at. Come, let's sit." He led her to where the others were passing the time. Pepe and Yaya had settled for a game of tag and were currently running around the hall like mad-men. She saw the interested look in Alex's face and whispered, "Go and join them." Her warrior didn't think twice and ran to the duo to take part with their fun.

Amu gladly took her seat next to the King. She stifled another yawn and wiped a tear away. She didn't know how much she could take before she'd just fall asleep. She pinched herself again and bit her tongue in an attempt to keep her eyes open. "Are you sleepy Amu-san?" Nagihiko suddenly said. Her mind was all fuzzy and unclear, so it took a few moments before she nodded. The Jack couldn't help but chuckle.

"If you need to take a nap, by all means you should." he said. "We still have an hour before we reach Wereinshide."

Amu flashed Nagihiko a totally grateful smile and at last allowed her eyelids to close softly over eyes. She was out like a light in less than a heartbeat.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Nagihiko was quite amazed by how fast their Joker had fallen asleep. "Never thought a person could fall asleep that fast." he admitted. "She must've been really sleepy…" He watched the pinkette's chest rise and fall in deep slumber. Her face seemed really peaceful when she slept and incredibly, she was smiling in her sleep. He did notice, however, that her head kept bobbing left to right. Now that just wouldn't do! He looked over to Rima and gave her a knowing wink. The queen got his message and hid a small smile.

"Tadase-kun." she called the King.

Said boy looked at her. "Yes?" Tadase said.

"Would you mind offering your shoulder to Amu-chan? She needs something to rest her head on, you know." Rima said. Nagihiko bit back a grin when he saw the look on his King's face. Tadase had looked at the pinkette's sleeping figure and couldn't resist cracking a goofy smile. His cheeks began to redden ever so slightly as he gently allowed her head to rest on his shoulder. Nagihiko was even more amused to see the Joker's face brighten when her head touched the King's shoulder. He took a look at the mood rose and was happy to see it change into a light violet. _Enjoying yourself, aren't you Amu-san? _"Are you comfortable, Tadase-kun?" he couldn't help but tease.

Tadase shot him a somewhat happy-nervous look and smiled. "I am." he said bluntly. Nagihiko could tell that the King was really enjoying being a pillow. Had this innocent soul finally found an interest in the opposite sex? The thought made Nagihiko laugh. Tadase shot him a quizzical look. "Is something the matter?" Nagihiko shook his head in response.

"No, everything's actually quite lovely."

* * *

Well, that's the chapter! Next up, the Guardians' first mission! I'm gonna be incorporating some major lovey-dovey scenes there. And what's with Amu feeling nostalgic or deja vu-ish when she's around Tadase? What could this mean? Bet you never thought Ikuto would be a professor, huh? I hope I characterized him good enough. So, please rate and review!

If you have any questions or clarifications, don't hesitate to ask!


	6. Chapter 5

Here you go, my dear readers! I have finally managed to finish this chapter! Now this time I have very good reasons for this chapter's delay. My school piled me up with so many projects and requirements, I barely had time to even open my computer. Now, however, is my holiday break, so I can stay on the computer for as long as I like. So, enjoy the update!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Shugo Chara! or any of its canon characters.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_Ah, what a soft feeling…What is this warmth? …Is that a voice? Who's there?_

"Fern, what would you do if I disappeared?"

_Hmm? Whose voice is this? She has such a sweet voice…_

"What's with that question, N?"

_That male voice…it seems so familiar.._

"Just a random thought. Your answer?"

"I'd search for you till the end of my life, of course!"

_I hear the lady sighing. Is she sad about something? Brr! It's suddenly becoming cold._

"And what if you couldn't find me in the end?" _Her voice is quivering…It's faint, but her voice is shaking…_

"…..I'd keep looking for you. No matter how many lifetimes it'll take, I'll look for you till I find you.

"Wouldn't you get tired of it eventually?"

"My love for you will not tire. It will not falter nor will it ever forget the way I feel about you."

_Oh, it's getting warmer again! I hear the lady chuckling. Boy, she sounds better._

"I love you, Fern."

"I know. I love you, too. I always will…"

_W-wait! Who are you people? No, their voices are fading away...I…I can't tell what they're saying..._

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Amu stirred from her sleep. She let out a small yawn, only to find that she was resting on something soft. She inhaled and caught the tender scent of lilies. _Lilies?_ She tried to move her head, but found that she was gently pinned down by something. She strained her eyes up to find out the cause and immediately blushed when she found out what – or rather, who – was pinning her head to its place. Resting ever so slightly atop her head was the King. He was sleeping quite peacefully and even seemed happy as his body leaned against hers and as his head rested against her own.

She tried to inch her way away from Tadase. Her actions, however, led to his awakening. Tadase got up with a start and stared at her with a seemingly dazed look. After a while, he let out a small yawn and smiled at her. "Hello, Hinamori-san. I'm glad you look well! I guess you really were sleepy." he said. Amu had to rack her brain to remember what had happened prior to her nap.

She had been drained from her classes, nearly collapsed at the Whale Port, and then finally took a nap in the stomach's chamber. But how on Earth did she end up leaning against Tadase? "So," The King's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Did you have a nice nap? I hope my shoulder made a sufficient pillow for you." Amu quickly nodded, flustered by the new thought of her sleeping on his shoulder.

"Oh, y-yes! I had a perfectly refreshing rest! Thank you, Tadase-kun!" she stammered. Tadase's smile widened and his cheeks tinted with the faintest hue of pink. Though, she could've been mistaken. "It was my pleasure. A gentleman would never let a lady sleep in such an uncomfortable manner." he said. A sudden flash of guilt spread across the King's face. She noticed it right away.

"What's wrong?"

"Could it be…..that you were tired because I dragged you along for the tour? Perhaps I shouldn't have been so vigorous…"

"Oh no. The tour didn't tire me at all. If anything, it was Combat class and Professor Ikuto's teasing that drained me." Amu reassured.

"Ikuto?" Tadase sounded surprised.

His smile vanished and was replaced by a frown. His mahogany eyes captured her own and held her still for a moment. "Did he physically harass you in anyway?" he inquired softly. "Did he injure you anywhere?" Amu shook her head in reply. "Nope. He just teased me with words is all. Nothing physical."

She could still see the troubled look on the King's face. Tadase looked away and leaned back on the bench. As she inspected his face, she was surprised to find a somewhat pissed look in his eyes. He turned to her, his gaze shifting into a serious mood. "Please don't hesitate to tell me if he is troubling you. Ikuto has a way of toying with people's emotions." For a small mite of a second, she swore she saw jealousy twinkle in his eyes. "I will not let him toy with you." he declared solemnly. Their eyes met again, and they shared a silent conversation with each other. Her eyes looked into his with a calm glint. His eyes responded with an understanding blink. Once again, a peaceful silence fell over them. And as it had been before, it was a good silence.

"Ahem."

Their conversation abruptly ended and their eyes darted towards a smirking Nagihiko. He had apparently joined in with Yaya and the warriors for a little game a while back and had just returned to his seat to take a rest. Rima let out an equally amused chuckle. "Having a bonding moment, are we?" the Queen said softly. Her teasing tone was obvious. Amu turned to Rima and frowned at her disapprovingly, though her red-cheeked face told the petite blonde all the answers. Nagihiko tried to see the King's reaction and was most satisfied at what he saw. Tadase's eyes were looking away from him and Rima, his hands were clenched into fists on his lap, and his face expressed an unnatural redness. Oh the joy of young love, Nagihiko thought.

The somewhat awkward moment ended, much to Amu and Tadase's relief, when a loud whistling sound reverberated in the chamber. Tadase got up from his seat and fixed his robe a bit. "Guess we've arrived in Wereinshide. Let's go." he told the Guardians. Nagihiko and Rima were the first to follow him, their warriors walking – or slithering in Rhythm's case – right behind them. Amu turned to where Alex was. Her little warrior was still in the middle of playing tag with Yaya and Pepe. She smiled. It was nice to see Alex have so much fun.

"Alex, come on! We're heading out the Sky Whale! That means you too, Yaya!" she called to them. It was her warrior who responded first. The little creature bounded up to her and took his rightful position on her shoulder. He let out a happy chirrup and gave a cute salute to her to say he was ready. Amu darted her gaze back to Yaya. The Ace didn't seem all too happy as she walked towards her. "No fair! We were just about to start round 28!" the brunette whined. Her warrior was equally down-hearted. "_Yes, dechu_!" Pepe nodded.

Amu rolled her eyes at them and chuckled. "You guys can continue your game _after_ the mission, 'kay?" she said. When she heard them mutter a yes, she turned and hurried after her other council members.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Wereinshide was a lot quieter than she expected. According to what Nagihiko had said during the meeting, Wereinshide was a floating isle that boasted of warm and friendly hospitality. It boasted of all the great lumber and metal its inhabitants harvested and of the always happy mood of the town. As the Guardians went down the Sky Whale, however, Amu believed that what Nagihiko had said was a huge exaggeration. The town was barely lively, and the people she saw passing by the streets were anything but friendly. The Guardians made their way down the roads of Wereinshide, encountering more unhappy-looking, sickly people. She could see how the townsfolk gave them skeptical looks. It made her feel uneasy.

"Are they the mages who are going to help us?" she heard a woman whisper.

"They're way too young for a job like this!" a man grumbled.

"Perhaps they're boycotting? The youth of this generation are so rebellious!" an old lady huffed.

Amu rolled her eyes at them. How typical it was for adults to assume such things. They would often look down on kids or teens, regardless of history's countless tales of young geniuses that could out-fight, outsmart and outshine many veterans.

"Ah! You must be the Guardians, yes?"

She turned her head towards a tall, lanky man. She whistled to Tadase who, with a turn of his head, saw the man. "Mayor Humblinger, I presume?" The King smiled. Tadase wove his way through the Guardians and walked up to the man. Humblinger grinned at Tadase and shook his hand gruffly. "You presume correctly! I received your reply just a while back. Happy I am to have you help me!" the mayor took off the top hat he was wearing and bowed curtly.

Just by looking at that all too familiar goofy grin, Amu knew he was an air-head. Humblinger was a blonde who looked to be thirty-four years old. Though, that goatee he had could've deceived her. His attire was, in her opinion, quite un-mayoral. True, she thought. The man wore the standard tuxedo suit, the top hat and the black bowtie. But the condition of his clothes was quite comical. His top hat had three patches of different colors sewed on parts of the body, his tuxedo had a visible repair stitch on the front and seemed to be tattered and weathered. His bow, considering that it was supposed to be black, was quite aged and grayed towards the edges.

He somehow reminded her of a hermit. Well, a hermit with good tastes anyway. She felt her ribs get a nudge and she turned to see Yaya snickering behind her. "He's kinda weird, isn't he?" she said. Amu didn't really reply, but she sneaked Yaya a smile of agreement. The exchange of words between the King and the mayor were short, consisting of quick introductions and a briefing of details for their mission. After that, Humblinger straightened up and motioned for the Guardians to follow him.

"Anyway, I'll show you the way to Groundfall Cave. Can't have you going there by yourselves!"

"Is it tricky to get there?"

"Not at all, Mr King! You just go straight through a forest till you hit the side of a mountain. I'm guiding you 'cause it's the polite thing to do."

"Um, you can call me Tadase-kun, Mayor Humblinger." Tadase politely said.

"Whatever you say, Mr. King." Humblinger nodded.

So Humblinger led them out of town. He had no difficulty in navigating down the numerous paths that stretched from the main road. When they were faced with two paths, he took the left one. When they ran into four paths, he immediately took the third one. All the while he led them, he jibber jabbered to Tadase about some pretty random stuff. "And then the leaf turned orange and snapped from its branch! It floated down so slowly, I thought I could bake a cake and it wouldn't reach the ground yet." Humblinger laughed and playfully slapped Tadase on the back. The King winced a bit at the force the mayor applied, but smiled nonetheless. "I-I see.." Tadase chuckled nervously. All this nonsense really ticked Rima off, as Amu had observed. The Queen rubbed her temples with a hand and sighed. Amu had a feeling she'd stop this chitchat. And Rima really did.

"What kind of epidemic is affecting the town?" Rima's voice rung loud and clear in the open air. Humblinger looked back at the petite blonde and frowned a bit. "Oh, it's a very bad disease. It's called "Crackle Cough". As the name might suggest, the victim contracts the disease from Crackle Spiders." Humblinger said.

"As of the moment, the Crackle Spiders are having their mating season. The males throw sparkling webs in the air to show off their strength to the females. The fittest males spin the brightest, lightest threads. Of course, the webbings are quite light and could easily get carried by the air." Humblinger shoved a hand into his pant pocket and fished out a small apple. It glimmered a bright red under the light. "This year, the air carried some of the webbings to the town market and landed on some of our food. The webs are quickly absorbed by the food and contaminate it with the paralytic poison found within the webs." Humblinger frowned. "This is one of the poisoned produce." The mayor tossed the apple around with his hands, somewhat playing with it.

Yaya raised her hand in the air and waved it a bit. "How bad is this Crackle Cough?" she giggled. Amu saw the surprised looks on Nagihiko and Rima. The Queen even raised an eyebrow at the giddy Ace. Yaya, in return, gave them a smug look and stuck her tongue out. "What? You think just 'cause I play around, I don't listen?" she grinned and turned back to the mayor. "Go ahead."

"Well, Crackle Cough is highly communicable for one thing. It is spread mainly through coughing and sneezing." Humblinger explained. A somewhat grave look mingled with his goofy grin. "There are only three symptoms to the disease. Terrible, they are. First, you break into a high fever with a splitting headache. Next, you start coughing like crazy. When you cough, it's like you're being zapped by a small jolt of electricity. Very painful, that symptom is. The last symptom is fatal, for you fall into a coma."

Humblinger frowned. "And when that happens, you never wake up." Amu felt her heart tighten. She had no idea how fatal the disease was. Now she felt even more determined to complete this mission. She quickly went to Humblinger's side and gently tugged on the sleeve of his tux. "You don't have to worry anymore. We'll get those barbs for you, mayor. I'm sure of it." she told him. Amu was glad to see Humblinger reply with his goofy smile. The man chuckled at her and ruffled her hair a bit. "Much obliged, miss….?"

"Amu, Amu Hinamori." she said.

"Amu…..That's a very lovely name. Thank you. You make my heart feel at ease." Humblinger bowed.

Amu grinned at him and fell back in line with Yaya. She happened to catch Tadase's gaze and saw that he was smiling at her. She smiled back at him and turned to Yaya to start some small talk. "So, tell me more about this Chiffon Mint Cake you keep talking about." Amu said.

Humblinger stared at the Joker and the King for a bit, his eyes darting from Tadase to Amu and then back to Tadase. The mayor grinned and elbowed the young boy. "I do say, Mr. King, you have quite a girlfriend there." Humblinger said. Tadase's eyes widened in surprise and he shook his head. "Oh, we're not dating." Tadase pointed out. It was now Humblinger's turn to look surprised. He tilted his head to the side and cocked an eyebrow.

"You aren't? I was sure you were an item."

"No, we're just friends."

"Well you can't really blame me for thinking that. I kept seeing you sneak glances at her while I was talking to you and noticed you'd keep smiling whenever you did."

"Wha – I mean, I was doing that to check if she was doing okay. Amu was a bit sleepy, you see, before we got here." Tadase stuttered.

"Sure you were, sure you were." Humblinger said sarcastically.

Tadase turned away from the mayor to hide the blush on his face. Honestly, why would anyone ever think he and Amu were dating? They were just friends. That was it, just friends. Then again, when he thought about it, he did wonder what it would be like to hug her. How nice she'd feel in his arms, how soft her lips might be if he'd kiss her – wait! "_No, no, no_!_ Don't think perverted thoughts_!" Tadase thought, shaking his head to strengthen his conviction.

Humblinger caught the king dazing off and rolled his eyes at him. Oh, how this urged him to tease the boy. But no, he was a gentleman and a gentleman would not do such a thing. Besides, he could tease the boy after the mission.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

It wasn't long before they finally reached the forest. The tall Oak Trees were dancing in the wind and sent leaves flying with the breeze. Small grunts and trills and chirps and growls could be heard deep within the green foliage. "Here we are!" Humblinger said. The mayor pointed in front of him. "Just go straight and you'll reach Groundfall Cave. You can't miss it. It's the biggest hole on the side of a huge mountain. Oh and it's all shiny too. You know, because it's lined with spider webs." Humblinger turned around and headed back the path they took, waving the Guardians a goodbye as walked away. "Wish I could help, but I'm no mage with any powers. I also have to get back to tending to the sick! Good luck!" the mayor said.

Tadase nodded to the Guardians and led them into the forest. The real mission was beginning now. The group hurried their way through the shrubs and trees. At times, a branch would snag onto their robes and cause them to stumble or trip. Rima, in Amu's opinion seemed the most peeved. The blonde muttered a few curses every time she got held back by a branch. "Stupid piece of wood." Rima seethed. Along the way, they happened to run into a small pack of the local Forest Wolves. Amu and Alex were more than ready to scare off the familiar foes, but Nagihiko beat her to it. "Allow me." the Jack smiled. Nagihiko gave a nod at his warrior.

Rhythm slithered his way in front of the wolves and pushed his body up to tower over the beasts. His white and purple scales gleamed brightly and his dark blue eyes narrowed into intimidating slits. The Mist Snake opened his maw to reveal the two rows of poisonous fangs at his disposal. He let out a spitting hiss at the wolves and faked a lunge at them. "_I do so love me a good wolf snack_!" Rhythm taunted. The wolves he lunged at immediately lost face and made a hasty retreat into the bushes. Rhythm slumped back to the ground and gave Alex a knowing nod. "_Forest Wolves are surprisingly cowardly_." he told the little creature.

Kiseki leaped into action as well, refusing to be upstaged by a lower animent. "_If you want to intimidate, you've got to be loud_! _Strike fear into their hearts that will leave them with moons of nightmares_!" the lion said proudly. Kiseki turned to the remaining Forest Wolves. He puffed up his chest and ripped out a literally fiery roar. A faint wave of fire crashed into the wolves and sent them scattering away with slightly singed pelts. Kiseki let out a vain laugh and trotted back to Tadase's side.

"_That is how you do it, my subjects_!" he boasted.

Amu heard Kusukusu giggle mockingly at the King's warrior. "_His head's too big for his shoulders_!_ Kukukuku_!" the River Otter whispered to Pepe. She heard the Cloud Bunny snicker along. "_I'm still wondering how he keeps it on, dechu_!" Pepe said. After that little encounter, no other animent dared to attack them. "_I wonder why that could be_." Amu thought sarcastically. Looking over her companions, she found that they were preparing themselves for the spiders. Tadase's hand hovered over his sword, ready to unsheathe it when necessary. Rima had her whip tossed over her shoulder in a way that reminded Amu of a female tyrant. The calm smile on the Queen's face added to the effect. Nagihiko had taken out one of his arrows and was inspecting it quietly. Yaya, well, she was just dragging her huge hammer along and singing "Mary had a little Cloud Lamb".

"There it is!" Yaya suddenly said.

The Ace pointed to the edge of the forest. Amu squinted her eyes and saw a small clearing with a wall of dirt and gravel. "The mountain." Amu said. The Guardians quickened their pace and hurried towards the mountainside. As Humblinger had told them, it was easy as pie to spot the entrance to Groundfall Cave. Amidst the dull, brown rocks on the face of the mountain, there was a spot on the higher ledges that shone unnaturally bright. "Those must be the spider webs." she heard Nagihiko say.

They wasted no time in scaling up the mountain. Every step she took on the steep ground was dangerous. She felt like she could fall off any moment. Amu willed herself not to look down and focused her eyes on the mouth of Groundfall Cave. "Hey, Nagihiko." Yaya chimed. "Does it hurt the Crackle Spiders when we pluck out their barbs?" The Jack grabbed hold of some rocks while he inched his way closer to the cave. "Not exactly. You know how we cut our nails and we don't feel a thing? Well, it's the same case for the Crackle Spiders. If anything, they'll just feel a slight tug on their abdomens." Nagihiko explained.

Amu saw Yaya grin widely. "Good!" the Ace said. "I wouldn't want to feel like a butcher plucking a chicken."

When they had safely reached the mouth of the cave, Tadase called Kiseki to him. "If you will." the King said. His warrior nodded and exhaled loudly. The lion's purple mane slowly lit up like fire and illuminated the dark walls of the cave. It wasn't too bright, just enough to show them where they were going. Without another word, the group entered into the darkness of Groundfall Cave.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"_Which way should we go, dechu_?"

"_I say left, kukukuku_!"

"_What makes you so sure, dechu_?"

"_I'm not_!"

The Guardians had reached a fork in the tunnel. None of the apprentices could decide which way to go. Amu looked at her warrior hopefully. "What do you say?" she said. Alex took a sniff at the air and moved his head left to right. "_The tunnel on the left, I think …_" he mewed. Rhythm had also tried to taste the air. The snake flicked his forked tongue in and out of his mouth. After a moment, the warrior nodded his agreement. "_The scents on the walls of the left tunnel are stronger_." Rhythm hissed. Amu nodded at Tadase who, in turn, began to walk towards the left tunnel.

"_Told you so_." Amu heard Kusukusu snicker to Pepe.

As they made their way down the path, Amu noticed faint trails of spider webs glittering the walls. The deeper they went in the tunnel, the more numerous and thicker the webs became. In a while, the group heard crackling, high-pitched squeaking sounds. "The Crackle Spiders." Nagihiko stated quietly. Where the squeaking was loudest, the Guardians found themselves at the end of the tunnel. It had led them into a huge cavern with a seemingly bottomless pit, and it was teeming with Crackle Spiders and their mates. Some were busily spinning a thick nest-like web on rocks to accommodate their offspring. Some were guarding the eggs their females already laid.

Amu saw the sharp barbs sticking out from their abdomens. _The cure_!

"So," Rima suddenly whispered. "How do we get those barbs without getting killed?" She could tell that the Queen was uncomfortable around the insects. Though her face stayed the same calm, snobbish face she'd seen, Amu had noticed her trembling legs. "Yaya can get the bait and lure them here!" Yaya suddenly piped up. Without waiting for anyone's reply, the Ace pulled out from her bag an enormous, fried, Flame Chicken drumstick. "I learned that these spiders really like chicken meat, so this will be perfect to lure them in. Amu felt alarm fill her body. "Idiot!" she hissed at the Ace. "Crackle Spiders have an extremely sharp sense of sme-" Before Amu could finish her sentence, she and the others heard a sharp shrieking. Three, huge, male Crackle Spiders came crawling towards them from the walls. One leaped at them in hopes to pin them to the ground. "Scatter!" Tadase barked. Everyone reacted in unison and moved out of the way just in time

The Crackle Spider landed roughly on the hard ground before it turned to Yaya, the holder of the drumstick. The other two males charged up at Yaya in hopes of snatching some pieces of the white meat as well. Amu was quick and took the drumstick out of the Ace's hands. She threw it near the end of the tunnel. The spiders quickly lost interest in the both of them and scrabbled over to the drumstick. Once they began to feed, Amu turned to Tadase. "Jump on their backs and grab as many barbs as you can! Come on, Yaya-chan." She grabbed hold of her fellow Guardian and shot a stern look at their warriors. "Stay." she said bluntly. She pulled the Ace along with her as they leaped onto the back of the biggest Crackle Spiders. "Pluck as fast as you can!" she told Yaya. With a nod, the brunette plucked twos of threes of fours of barbs in a minute. Amu herself managed to gather around forty. She looked to her council members and was pleased to see them quickly get the barbs. They needed only a few more and then they could run the hell out of this cruddy cave.

"_Amu_!" she heard her warrior shout.

She looked down and gasped. "Holy Mages!" she said. The Crackle Spiders were already finished with the drumstick. The animents registered the apprentices on their backs and screeched furiously. Amu jumped off the big spider and tumbled to the ground. Tadase, Nagihiko, and Rima did the same while safely securing their small sacks of the Crackle Barbs.

The Crackle Spiders turned to the apprentices and let out enraged screeches as they moved towards them. That was when their warriors came in. Alex let out an infuriated hiss, Kiseki let out a loud, rumbling growl, and Rhythm exposed his sharp fangs to them. The spiders hesitated and, albeit grudgingly, turned for a hasty retreat. Amu let out a sigh. They were done. But then she realized: Yaya hadn't jumped off yet. She darted her eyes to the Crackle Spider that the Ace was still on and found out why.

"Amu-chi! My robe's stuck to the barbs!" she heard Yaya panic.

It was all instinctive when she reacted. She dropped her sack and jumped back on the Crackle Spider's abdomen. By this time, the three males were already clambering back to the walls of the cavern. If she couldn't de-snag Yaya's robe, they'd both fall to their doom. She racked her brains to think of a spell that she could use without injuring Yaya. While the Ace futilely pulled against her robe, Amu recited a small spell and gathered the shadows around her to form a sharp blade around her hand. Slash! Yaya's robe was cut free from the barbs. The brunette let out a startled squeal as she rocketed down to the ground. The force released from Yaya's pulling caused Amu to slam hard into the spider's abdomen, causing said spider to lose its balance and trip. Being that she and the male spider were at the edge of the tunnel, they were both sent falling down into the dark crevice.

Alex, who was still busy driving the remaining Crackle Spiders away, let a horrified mew as his mage disappeared from his sight. The little creature completely forgot about the spiders and dashed towards the tunnel's cliff. Tadase, like the rest of the Guardians had also seen what had happened to Amu and he was quite sure that her warrior was about to do the same thing. He turned to Rhythm. "Stop him!" he said. The Mist Snake nodded and slithered after Alex. Just as the little creature leaped towards the cavern, Rhythm wrapped his tail around the little creature's body and drew him back forcefully.

"_What are you doing_?! _My partner's down there_!" Alex hissed.

"_And do you think blindly jumping in after her will do you any good_?!" Rhythm countered.

Rhythm brought him back to the group. "_You don't know enough magic to fight against those shadow-resistant animents_!" the Mist Snake looked at Alex sternly. The little creature refused to listen. He squirmed in the snake's grip. "_Argh_! _Damnit_! _Let me go_! _I have to save Amu_!" Alex insisted.

"I'll bring her back." Alex turned to face the King. His eyes narrowed into slits as he stared down Tadase. "_What_?" he huffed. The King nodded. "I'll bring her back." he repeated. "Tadase," Nagihiko interrupted. "don't do anything rashly…" Tadase smiled at Nagihiko with a hint of Kiseki-like smugness in his eyes. "I've never done anything without thinking, Nagihiko. Don't worry. It just so happens that I studied some Fire spells that'll work just fine on Crackle Spiders." He turned his mahogany-red gaze to Amu's warrior. "I'll bring her back." Alex let out a small hiss, but slowly nodded.

"_You'd better_." the warrior muttered.

Tadase turned to Nagihiko. "Bring everybody to the crossroads back in the tunnel and wait for me and Kiseki there." he told the Jack. "If we're not there in an hour, you've got to go on without us." In response, Nagihiko flicked Tadase's forehead. The King let out a surprised groan and gingerly patted the swatted area of skin. "Ow!" he said. Nagihiko looked at him with a stern gaze. "We _won't _have to leave you behind. You _will _manage to bring Amu back." the Jack insisted. Without another word, Nagihiko turned and hurriedly led the others away from the cavern.

"Make sure Amu-chi's okay! I still have to thank her!" Yaya called.

When the Guardians were out of his sight, Tadase turned to his warrior. "Are you ready, Kiseki?" the King said. Kiseki nodded and puffed his chest out, quite prideful. "_Of course_!" he growled. "_Let's go_!" They looked down into the abyss of the cavern. For a moment, Tadase was uncertain if there really was a bottom. He peered deep into the pitch black and was unable to see anything. His ears, however, could hear the faint sounds of footsteps and high-pitched shrieking down below. "_Don't worry, Hinamori-san. We'll bring you back…_" he thought.

He inhaled, his grip tightening on his sword, and jumped into the darkness. Kiseki followed right after and he, too, disappeared into the seemingly bottomless cavern.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

"Nos illustret igne viam.."

Tadase's words sparked a fire that illuminated inside his body. A small, platinum-colored glow shone where his heart would be and spread through him like wildfire, effectively illuminating the once dark walls of the cavern with bright light. Some Crackle Spiders nearby scurried away when the warm light hit their cold-loving bodies. They let out aggravated screeches while they scuttled into the unreached darkness.

"Kiseki, do you smell Hinamori'-san's scent?" Tadase turned his attention to his warrior. The lion took in a big gulp of air and tasted it. Kiseki's eyes narrowed in disappointment. "_No, not even a whiff_." he growled. The King looked far beyond his range of sight. The two of them had been searching for nearly half an hour now and they had found no sign of Amu. His eyes squinted into the darkness that he and Kiseki's light could not reach. What if something horrible had happened to the Joker? What if the Crackle Spider she was on attacked her? It was hard for Tadase not to shout her name to call her. He knew that if he'd shout, he'd just attract unwanted attention from the spiders.

"Let's keep moving." he said weakly. The two of them trudged on through the damp cavern, carefully avoiding any run-ins with spider webs. Tadase didn't worry too much about being attacked by a Crackle Spider. His fire would keep the animents at a safe distance from the dangerous flames.

"_Tadase_!" Kiseki suddenly called.

His warrior bounded ahead towards a cluster of rubble. "_Look_…" Kiseki said. Tadase watched as his warrior pushed away the rocky debris. He hurried to his warrior's side just in time to see Kiseki pull out a familiar sight. "Amu's mood flower…" The poor rose was crushed and wilted, not to mention speckled with few drops of blood. Tadase felt a knot form in his guts. "Is that…..hers?" he looked at Kiseki. His lion took a sniff at the rose. Kiseki's eyes widened in surprise, then flashed into a look of agitation. Kiseki sniffed again, then again, then again.

"_I do not understand this_. _I can't smell a thing from this_._ There's no scent on it_…"

"H-how can that be?"

"_Fool_._ I may be royal, but that does not imply I am a genius._" Kiseki snorted.

"Well, how can we possibly-" Tadase's sentence was cut short.

A loud array of screeching erupted not too far from where they were. The King turned around. "That could be…!" he gasped. "Let's go, Kiseki!" Tadase left the rose behind as he dashed towards the source of the sound. His warrior bounded ahead of him and let out a ferocious roar at a group Crackle Spiders, his fiery mane illuminated. The lion leaped on one of the spiders and alighted himself with a purple fire. The arachnid screamed in pain and charged about, to and fro, to shake the big animent off of its hide.

While the other spiders came to the aid of their injured companion, Tadase looked down to the ground where the animents had occupied seconds before. A shattered vile and a trail of familiar-looking pink liquid was all the clue he needed. He turned to Kiseki who, with a look of pride and battle-lust in his eyes, was still slashing at the Crackle spiders.

"Leave them, Kiseki! I think I know where Hinamori-san is!" he called to his warrior, quickly following the pink drops deeper into the cave. Kiseki turned to him and nodded. The lion neatly leaped off the badly burnt spider and followed the King in pursuit. Distant screeches of pain and a thick air of burnt flesh was all that Tadase could perceive as he ran through the darkness. His eyes trained on the ever shrinking droplets of Amu's scent-hiding potion. If he couldn't find Amu before these droplets evaporated, he'd have to-

"_No_._ I _will_ find her_." Tadase shook his head vigorously.

More minutes passed by with him and Kiseki just running blindly through the darkness of the cave, being led only by the faint trail of potion drops illuminated by his small fire. His hopes of finding the Joker were dwindling. He was running out of time. He had to find her soon.

"_Tadase, look_!" Kiseki's voice rung.

The King skidded to a halt and turned back. He saw his warrior's maw pointing towards a small tunnel that he himself had not noticed. "_I smell fresh air, Tadase_. _Fresh air means a way out of here_. _If that Joker had any common sense, she'd go through here_." his lion grunted.

Tadase looked at Kiseki skeptically. "But the trail…" he looked down and gasped to see that all the droplets had vanished, evaporated. He heard Kiseki growl at him. "_Come on_." Tadase reluctantly followed his warrior into the narrow tunnel, grimacing at how very little space there was. He squeezed himself through the walls, cutting himself on a sharp ledge during the process. Scarlet red dripped to the ground from a fresh gash in his arm. But the King paid no heed to the minor wound.

He kept on and squeezed himself through the tunnel until, at last, he too caught whiff of fresh air. A gentle breeze was easily detected by his already sweaty forehead, a very much welcomed sensation to the tired Guardian. Tadase heard his warrior call for him at the end of the tunnel. Tadase slowly turned his head, being careful not to cut himself again, and saw the bright of the outside glare at him. The King hurried his careful steps and inched his way closer and closer to the end of the tunnel.

His body was shot out of the tunnel as he pulled himself out of the cave. Tadase flopped onto the ground, surprised to feel the comforting texture of grass rather than gravel. He sat up, adjusted his eyes to the sudden exposure to light and then looked around.

Tadase had not expected much from a cave as dark and eerie as Groundfall. He had not expected to find any kind of life other than glowing moss and Crackle spiders. Yet here he was, right smack in front of a gorgeous, underground garden. The towering trees displayed magnificent hues of emerald green leaves and lime grass. The flowers came in a multitude of colors, sparkling quite brightly due to the dew beautifully sticking to their petals. A variety of fruits grew on the trees and bushes, and were tantalizingly lush and ripe. Large cracks in the ceiling of the cave revealed a way out as sunshine sneaked its way in to give life to the beautiful garden.

He looked around for Kiseki and laughed as he saw his lion gorging himself on one of the plumpest mangoes he'd ever seen. Yellow stained the muzzle of the gobbling warrior, very much lessening the already little image of kingliness the boastful warrior had. "Have you seen Hinamori-san?" Tadase called.

Kiseki had either not heard him, or chose to ignore him, for the lion simply continued munching on the mangoes. "Kiseki!" The lion's ears flicked at him before the head followed. Swallowing one more piece of mango, Kiseki stalked back to the King's side. "_You need not shout at royalty_. A King such as yourself shouldn_'t_ _be shouting either_." his warrior grumbled. "_Don't be all fidgety, we'll find that girl_."

Before Tadase could comment on his warrior's sticky face, a silhouette passing by caught his eye. There was a flash of pink and then the figure was gone. "Hinamori-san?" Tadase gasped. "Come on Kiseki!" The King dashed into the bushes and looked around. "Hinamori-san, are you there? Hinamori-san!" he called through the garden. He heard a faint cry in the distance. "Tadase-kun? Is that you?" Amu's voice echoed.

"Yes, it's me! How long have you been here? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm totally fine. Anyway, where are you? I can't see you!"

"Me neither! Maybe we-" Tadase started.

"Look out!" Amu's voice gasped.

The King turned around and felt a body slam right into him. He felt the wind knock out of him and toppled down the sloping ground of the garden, his arms locked with Amu's. They both tumbled to the bottom and landed in a ruffled heap, with him on top and Amu pinned beneath him. They said nothing at first, they could barely breath from the breath the sudden impact took from them. After a few more seconds, Amu finally spoke. "Ugh, Kukai's right! I _do _keep bumping into people!" she groaned.

"Sorry Tadase-kun, are you…..hurt..?"

"N-no. I'm fine. How…..about…..you...?"

They met each other's gazes and flushed a deep red when they realized exactly what position they were in. Amu felt Tadase's body pressed against hers, his breath hot on her neck, his hands gripping her fingers tightly as his arms drew hers above her head. To make it all the more uncomfortable, Tadase's legs had locked against her own legs, rendering herself unable to move.

Tadase stuttered to find the right words to say. For the first time in his life, amidst all the speeches and orations he ever gave, Tadase Hotari found himself speechless. His lips moved, but no sound came out. He was distracted by Amu. Even though her hair was messily sprawled on the ground, it made her look attractive, appealing, and seductive. Her honey-gold eyes stared at him with an interesting glint that made him stare into them like an imbecile entranced and her hands, so soft and small compared to his, they fit into his grasp perfectly. Despite such awkwardness, something in this just felt…..right.

Him being this close to her stirred a feeling in him. It was a sensation unfamiliar to him, yet seemed as if he had known it all his life. It made his lips curve upward into a goofy smile. Weirder still, he saw that Amu had also a sheepish grin on her face. Did she feel what he was feeling too? This strange sense of déjà vu? He felt himself lowering his head till his face was mere inches apart from her own. Amu's eyes widened at this action, but she did not seem to resist. He drew closer, and closer and closer.

"_Tadase, there you two are_!"

Kiseki's loud voice startled the sense out of Tadase. His trance-like state was broken and in a flash, he pushed himself away from Amu and landed a few feet in front of her. His eyes trailed up the slope to meet his warrior's questioning gaze. "_And just what were you doing after you two disappeared_?" Kiseki arched an eyebrow. The King could not hide the blush now staining his face, but he bravely looked his warrior in the eye and offered Kiseki a calm smile. "Trying to recover from a bad fall." he said smoothly. "My muscles were too tired to move at the moment." It wasn't a total lie. His muscles _were_ protesting to him.

With a huff and a roll of his eyes, Kiseki clambered down the slope and stopped by Amu's side. The lion eyed the pinkette quite agitatedly. "_And _you_, do you know how worried my mage has been_? _Because of you, Tadase-kun has become unusually fidgety. And _no_ prince should look weak. I hope you're_-_"_ Kiseki halted his verbal assault as his eyes wandered onto the Joker's legs. The warrior's jaw hung open upon seeing the big gash on Amu's left calf. Blood was profusely bleeding out from the wound. A bloody draping of shadow cloth was all the petty attempt Amu tried as a means to slow down the bleeding. "I would've tried climbing back up…..But…" the pinkette's breath was still ragged, losing blood and being winded _did_ do that to a person. "The Crackle Spiders would've come for me, they smelled my blood. I had to run a good distance away from them before I got the chance to splash my scent hiding potion on me.."

Tadase paled at the sight of Amu's bloodied leg. He hurriedly crawled to her side and took an eyeful of the wound. His hands fluttered over the bloodied shadow cloth. "May I?" he looked at Amu. She gave him a nod. Tadase carefully unwinded the cloth off and tossed it amongst the grass. He eyed Amu's gash for a bit before taking in a deep breath. "I can close your wound, but it might hurt a bit….Is that alright with you, Hinamori-san?" he said nervously.

His eyes locked onto hers again, only to receive a reassuring blink. "Mm." she said. Tadase hovered his hand over her wound and closed his eyes, focusing all the warmth in him to transfer to his palms. He took deep breaths and felt the warmth drain into his hands. "Sanitatum Ignis." he whispered. A small fire engulfed his hands. The platinum flames were warm to him, but offered a pleasing sensation to his skin. He slowly placed his alighted hands upon Amu's wound. There was a sizzle, a muffled gasp from the Joker, a small steam of smoke arose, and then the wound was gone. It was as if it never existed. Not even the blood that was on her leg was visible anymore.

Tadase extinguished his flames and let out a loud sigh, flopping himself back to the grass. Healing with fire was always exhausting. His element was not meant for healing like water was, so learning a healing spell through fire would require lots of his stamina. Yet, as he looked at the peaceful look on Amu's face as the pinkette gingerly patted her leg, he felt it was worth his effort. He gave the both of them a couple more seconds before he got up. He bent down and offered his hand for Amu to take. "Let's go, Hinamori-san." he smiled. "Everyone's waiting for us."

The Joker nodded eagerly. "And I have an idea about getting out of here quicker." Amu pointed up to the roof of the forest's high ceiling. "We can go through the hole in the ceiling and scale our way down." she explained.

Kiseki let out a sniff of disdain and rolled his eyes at her. "_And just _how_ are we going to do that_?" he growled. Amu didn't seem to be offended by the warrior's tone this time and just smiled sheepishly. "Well, we're mages, aren't we? So we should use magic! I've been working on this spell for over a month. I guess now's the time to test it out." she said.

"What spell?" Tadase asked curiously.

Amu cleared her throat and closed her eyes. She chanted in quick latin an ancient chant and slowly flicked her right hand to a steady beat. When she flicked, shadows and light particles gathered at her feet to create a big step. She flicked again and another step was added. With every flick of her wrist, more and more steps were formed, each step floating up higher and higher into the sky until it looked like a stairway to heaven.

Tadase saw the beads of sweat trailing down the Joker's neck and noticed how she paled every time she added a new step. He observed her closely. _She shouldn't push herself too hard_. After the last step, Amu collapsed into his waiting arms, heavily panting as she tried to steady herself. "N-neat spell, huh?" she managed to gasp. Tadase nodded at her and smiled. "It was brilliant, Hinamori-san." he told her.

Kiseki didn't seem bothered by the Joker's weak state and every so haughtily took his first step on the floating staircase. " _It won't suddenly vanish, right_? _You'll be able to maintain this, right_?" the lion arched an eyebrow. Amu straightened herself slowly, her face still tired from the spell she had cast. "I can keep this up for ten minutes, so we'll have to run our way up." Kiseki nodded at her and then went up the steps hurriedly. Amu followed behind the warrior, shakily taking her first few steps up the stairs she had conjured. But it was difficult. The spell had really taken a toll on her.

She let out a small squeak as she felt herself hoisted from the ground into the King's arms. She looked at Tadase in bewilderment. "W-what are you doing, Tadase-kun? I can manage on my own…" Amu protested.

But Tadase would hear nothing of her excuses. "You can barely stand up, let alone run up these steps. I'll carry you, Hinamori-san." The king paused for a moment and flashed her a sincere smile. "Please depend on me more. You're my teammate." Amu wanted to retort, tell Tadase that he didn't have to carry her. Yet in his arms, Amu felt strangely at home, comfortable. So she finally nodded her consent and allowed herself to be carried bridal-style up the steps.

She was amazed by the King's strength. Not only was Tadase able to keep up with his prideful warrior's lengthy strides with ease, he did so all while carrying her. The trio reached the end of the staircase in no time. Kiseki leaped out through the crack in the ceiling and helped, though quite rough-handedly, Amu out of the cave. Tadase came right after them and sat himself on the earthy ground. "Those were a lot of stairs to climb." he panted heavily. He turned his attention to the Joker.

"I hope the ride wasn't too bumpy for you, Hinamori-san." Amu really did admire this guy. Even when he was totally pooped, he was still more concerned about her than he was about himself. She jokingly pictured him carrying a ton of luggage for an old lady, breaking his back as he cheerfully assisted the elderly woman.

The Joker let out a chuckle and shook her head. "It was fine, Tadase-kun. Thanks." Amu said. The pinkette got up and studied their current location. She took note of the direction she had gone when after she had fallen into the chasm, carefully retracing her steps in her head. After a few moments, she pointed west. "That way. This is the direction we came from." Kiseki eyed her suspiciously. "_Are you sure about this, Joker_?_ You shouldn't get us lost_. _We don't have plenty of time left_." he huffed. Amu nodded at Kiseki.

"I'm sure."

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Tadase was amazed at Amu's sense of direction. Despite the craggy mountainside's identical paths and structures, the pinkette never once hesitated in her decisions of which path they'd take. She'd pause when they met a fork in the road, look up at the sun and mutter, then immediately go the path she thought was best. And even with his warrior's constant criticism on the Joker's methods, Tadase knew that Kiseki trusted her choices as well.

"Hinamori-san, how can you be so sure this is the right way?" Tadase asked.

Amu turned her attention to him, though she still continued her trek down a sloping path on the mountain. "Well….It's kinda hard to explain, really. I can feel like it's the right way. Like I'm getting closer." she strained, rubbing the back of her neck thoughtfully.

"_Closer to what_?"

"To Alex, I suppose. I've never been separated from him this long since the day I took him in. Whenever we'd get separated, we'd always know where to find each other."

"_You have a contract that strong? It would normally take a plain girl like _you_ years before even becoming worthy of training a bond that strong. Tadase and I managed to perfect that in three short years!_"

Kiseki puffed his chest out triumphantly as he boasted about his strong bond with the King. Amu found it hard to believe the two could really get along. Tadase and Kiseki were totally different entities. Tadase was a kind person who had a gentle, and forgiving perspective. Kiseki, well, he was just plain out spoiled. If anything, the lion would be a match made in heaven for Saaya Yamabuki.

"Alex and I never trained. It came naturally the day we decided we'd be partners." Amu said confusedly.

A shocked look slapped itself upon Kiseki and Tadase's faces. The King hurried his steps towards the Joker till he was shoulder to shoulder with her. "Matte, Hinamori-san. Are you telling me you never performed the Contract ritual with Alex?" Tadase gasped.

The pinkette raised an eyebrow at him and deepened her confused expression. "A what-ritual? You need a ritual to be partners?" she asked him. Tadase said nothing. _How is that possible_? _No mage can perform magic with an animent they haven't made a contract with_! _It's unheard of_! _Impossible_! The blonde shook his head after a few moments.

"Oh, it's nothing we need to worry about now. Let's just focus on meeting the others soon." Tadase smiled.

"But-" Amu protested.

"Please, Hinamori-san. I promise we'll talk more about this later." Tadase insisted.

His voice wasn't harsh or firm, but exhumed a tone that defied anyone from talking back. Amu felt compelled to oblige and ended up silently nodding. They came up to yet another fork in the road. Amu felt her heartstrings pull her to the right, as if she could hear her warrior calling out to her. The pinkette pointed the path she chose and led them ever closer to the mountain's base.

It wasn't long before they spotted the familiar robes of Seiyo flashing at the foot of the mountain. Amu eagerly quickened her pace. She raced down the path and cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, "Minna!"

She watched as heads turned and grinned when she saw the relieved looks on the Guardian's faces. Tadase and Kiseki hurried right behind her as they greeted their teammates. Alex was quick to overtake the strides of the Guardians and ever so gleefully launched himself at his mage.

Amu met him with open arms and squeezed her furry little warrior in a well-deserved hug. "Alex! Ah, old buddy, old pal! Did you miss me?" Amu giggled.

Her warrior replied with a happy nod, his tail wagging and his tongue bathing her in slobbery kisses. "_Of course_!_ You worried the fur and scales off of me_! _I would've come after you but they-_" Alex glared accusingly at the Guardians. "_wouldn't let me_!" Amu just laughed and laughed, hugging her warrior tighter to her. "I know you would. But you had nothing to worry about! Tadase-kun found me and brought me back here!"

It was a happy reunion for the Guardians. Yaya eagerly knocked Amu down, and Alex out of her grip, and cried a river of tears for causing her to fall down. Amu tried soothing the Ace's wails with assuring words, but to no avail. Nagihiko and Rima congratulated Tadase for bringing the Joker back.

"And on the nick of time, too!" Nagihiko chuckled.

"A couple more minutes and we'd have had to leave you guys." Rima added.

Minutes. Time. A worried look came over the King's face. "How much time do we have left?" he asked the Jack. Nagihiko calmly patted Tadase on the back and smiled. "Easy now. Relax. We still have two hours left. If we hurry back to town, we can manage to get back to HSA before the time runs out." Nagihiko assured him.

Kiseki had overheard the Jack's words. He was in the middle of telling the other warriors on how he _bravely_ led his mage and the Joker safely back while fighting a hundred Crackle spiders single-pawed when his keen ears caught Nagihiko's words. The lion took a step forward and pulled the hem of Tadase's robe. "_Then what are we waiting for_? _Let's make haste_!" he roared.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

The next two hours passed by in a flash. After a mad dash back to Wereinshide in the part of the Guardians, Mayor Humblinger asked them to help him make the special remedy that would cure his people of Crackle Cough. The remedy was a complex stew that utilized the raw venom found in the barbs, and turn them into anti-venom. It was a painstaking task. One miscalculation in measurements of the ingredients would cause the whole stew to be rendered useless. And seeing as how the stew took thirty minutes to complete, there was no room for error.

Blood, sweat and tears pulled the Guardians through. The stew was complete and was served to all the victims of Crackle Cough. The results were instant. The pale faces of the victims were flushed with new life and color. Their coughs quickly lessened and their headaches gone within a few minutes. The people of Wereinshide rejoiced, now that their fellow townsfolk were healthy once more. Mayor Humblinger had insisted on holding a grand feast in the Guardians honor for helping them, but Tadase politely refused.

Though somewhat sadly, Mayor Humblinger nodded in understanding. "But stop by soon. We'll still have that feast for you lot when you get back." the mayor said in a singsong tone. He escorted the Guardians to their Sky Whale and gave Amu a little parting gift. The Mayor asked to borrow the Joker for a bit and led her a few feet away. He looked back at the Guardians and gave them a comical "don't you dare eavesdrop" look.

He took out a small box wrapped in a linen bow. The box itself was worn and aged but the bow was sparkling new. "This is a little something from me to you. Mr. King told me about what you did. And I must say it was both reckless and heroic. I admire that in a woman, sacrificing her safety for her friend's." Mayor Humblinger grinned. He carefully took off the lid and showed her the little trinket inside. The silver gleam of the delicately crafted compass greeted her with a warm glow. Its golden arrow pointed ever North, not once twitching or changing direction.

"This is a special compass. You can't use it like you can with any other compass. It guides you to where you need to go only in the direst of situations. I myself have never made it work for me even once." Mayor Humblinger chuckled. "It is said that compasses like these only respond to those that deserve its guidance. I believe it will help you someday, considering the profession you're planning to take. So here. Take it with you."

Amu stared at the gift admiringly, entranced by the story behind the trinket. "I don't know what to say, Mayor Humblinger…" the pinkette muttered.

"A 'thank you very much' would suffice, my dear." the mayor joked.

Amu giggled and nodded at him. "Thanks." she said.

With a wave of farewell to the mayor of Wereinshide, Amu caught up with the Guardians and walked with them into the belly of their ride home. When asked by her companions on what she had received, she merely stowed it away and put a finger to her lips. "Secret." she smirked.

"Bye-bye, funny Mayor-san!" Yaya shouted.

"Thank you for having us!" Rima waved.

"We promise to visit soon!" Tadase added.

And with that, the mouth of the HSA Sky Whale shut closed. The group made their way into the stomach chamber and relaxed themselves on the benches. Yaya, Pepe and Alex picked off on their game of tag and began zooming about the large chamber in a flurry of squealing and pounding. Amu watched them all tiredly. "How can they not be drained after all this?" Amu chuckled, shifting her gaze to Nagihiko.

The Jack just shrugged and levitated a ready-made tray of tea towards them. He picked up a cup and took a sip, saying beforehand, "That's one of the great mysteries of the world."

Rima nodded in agreement and took a cup for herself. "Yaya is as Yaya does." the Queen said. The tray levitated towards Amu and Tadase, the two both took a cup of their own. Amu lazily swirled her tea around. "After seeing all that stew, I don't think I can drink anything for a while.." she groaned.

"The feeling is mutual…" Tadase chuckld tiredly.

Without warning, they all let out laughs. They talked the hour away about just anything they could think of. Tadase told them about famous folklore and legends on famous mages, Rima talked about the latest fashion trends for mage wear, Nagihiko explained the surprisingly complex steps of tea ceremonies and Amu, she talked all about the animents in her hometown. When Nagihiko confessed that her staff had been destroyed during their escape, Amu thought little of it and said it was okay. She said that as long as they were okay and that the staff had helped them in some way, her uncle would understand.

It was kind of disappointing when they heard the shrill whistle of the Sky Whale's blow horn, signaling they had finally arrived at Sanctium Isle. Nagihiko quickly kept his tea set away. He turned to Yaya and the warriors playing with her. "Alright, you've had your fun. We've got to head back to school now." he called them. The trio let out sad protests, but made no attempt at bargaining for more time. Alex clambered back up to Amu's shoulder and let out giddy mews. "_That was _so_ much fun_!" he told his mage.

The gentle breeze of early night greeted their arrival as they walked down the tongue ramp. Amu let in a deep breath. She loved night breezes. "I can't believe the afternoon's really over." she told Tadase. "At least we all got to see the sunset while riding the whale. It's really prettier to watch it when you're in the sky." The King smiled. He swung his arms to his back and clenched his hands together, nodding at her statement.

"Most certainly. My father and I used to ride the Sky Whales as often as we could, _just_ to watch the sunset."

"What happened?"

"His schedule started to fill up, being the headmaster and all, and he soon hadn't any spare time."

"Do you still go to watch sunsets without him?" Amu said.

"I try when I can. But, it's just not the same all by myself. I was so used to watching it with someone with me. I asked Kiseki once to come with me, but he doesn't quite like wasting his time 'looking at a star drown in the horizon'." Tadase sighed.

Amu frowned a bit. She kind of understood. She and her uncle Shuu used to ride their reindeer for a forest stroll every afternoon when she was a kid. He had to eventually stop doing that with her when his baking skills became quite noticed in Heion. Shuu would need more time to bake, so Amu would usually settle riding reindeer with Alex. _At least I had my warrior with me_. The pinkette cleared her throat. "I don't know if Alex and I would make for good company," she started. "But if you'd like, we could go with you." Tadase looked at her with an almost startled look, but quickly found himself athrill at the thought.

"You'd spare your time to accompany me?" he repeated. Amu nodded and let out a giggle. "I've definitely come to like aerial sunsets now, and as my uncle would say: 'The sweet things in life become sweeter when you have someone to share it with.'." the pinkette smiled.

Tadase grinned in return. He liked that saying. "Then I shall inform you of the next time I'll be watching the sunset." he said, a quite giddy tone in his usually composed voice. Alex prodded Amu with a paw. He had kept quiet until now, so when he spoke, he could barely keep his voice low. "_Ooh, you've got a date with the King_!" he teased. "_Don't worry, I won't get in your way. I'll just enjoy a nice cup of coco while you guys have fun_." Her warrior's tail wagged excitedly as he snickered. Amu felt her cheeks heat up again and gave Alex a pinch.

"_Ouch_!" he squeaked.

"It's not a date!" she whispered.

"_Yeah, and I'm a girl_.." he mocked.

Just as she was about to make a clever retort, Yaya's peppy voice caught her attention. "Hey, Amu-chi," the Ace called a few feet ahead. "Do you mind if I borrow your notes for Potions this evening?" the brunette grinned. "I've got a test tomorrow and I wanna make sure I pass so I don't have to take make-up class!"

"Oh, sure Yaya. Just stop by the Luminoir-" That was when Amu paled. Her eyes dilated. A cold chill ran down her spine. A sudden realization surfaced, of words that her Potions professor had told her house.

"Holy Seiyo, I totally forgot! I'm having a Potions test tomorrow too!" she wailed.

* * *

I hope this chapter was Tadamu fluffy enough for you all! I really did try to give this chapter some of that. Oh, and I also put some foreshadowing there, if you'll notice. If you've got any questions or suggestions, feel free to review this chapter! You all know how much I love reviews! Look forward to the next chapter.

(**A Word of Caution to Tadamu Fans:** Some of you might not appreciate a certain blue-haired professor in the next chapter...)


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